Percy & Panda: A World Turned Upside Down
by prehistoric-huntress
Summary: Some secrets should never ever see the light, but what happens when a secret that has the potential to change the world in its entirety, for better or worse, forever, is unearthed?
1. Prologue

_**Prologue**_

_She glided across the ground, leaving everything undisturbed, like she wasn't even there. She weaved her way through the trees and rocks, her black hair flowing behind her. The wind was soft, but yet there was an eerie feeling in the air. She reached a dead end; a cliff that could touch the sky loomed before her. She stood in front of it, waiting. Then a figure shimmered into view. It was a man, kneeling down. He was dressed formally, the way Greeks dressed for special occasions, though he looked more like he was prepared for battle._

"_My lord?" she asked softly. The man stood up and turned his blazing blue eyes toward her._

"_Is it true?" he asked, looking at the ground. The woman remained silent, though her eyes told the truth._

"_Is it?" the man growled. The woman took in a breath, and then softly nodded._

"_Who will it be?" he asked, now turning his whole body to face her. Usually people trembled in his presence; scared of being struck by a bolt of lightning if they said something wrong, but the woman remained completely calm._

"_It is not for me to tell," she said firmly._

"_Tell me!" the man yelled. He was now towering over her, but she stayed unmoving._

"_Forgive me, Lord Zeus, but it is only my duty to tell the prophecies. Not when or where… or who," she said, looking up at him with a very stern look in her grey eyes. Zeus had a look in his eyes that would scare anyone to death, but she was not the least bit affected by his anger._

"_You will regret this Delphi," he said. He walked back to the spot where he had arrived. He then turned to look at her one more time. "When the time comes, there shall be a very ugly war and you will be to blame," he said, before he turned into bright gold and disappeared. There was a loud clap of thunder and Delphi looked up at the night sky._

"_Be brave, my heroes. Not an easy path awaits you," she whispered. She turned and disappeared into the forest._

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For anyone who read this story the first time I published it, it's still the same. Except, I've added a few things, so I had to change the arrangement of chapters. I still hope you like it, and I would still like feedback on this. Thanks!

Also, a thanks to:

The Guests, Shelby and Waterblue for the reviews!


	2. I Percy

**I**

**PERCY**

School has just ended and camp was starting to fill up again. Clarisse already started sizing up all the new kids. The Aphrodite kids were recruiting girls for make-overs and the Apollo kids were separating everyone's bed by the instrument they play. Annabeth hadn't arrived yet, so I spent my time along the beach. I sat down on the dock, with my feet hanging over the edge. I didn't have much to think about, so I just kept zoning out.

Suddenly, there was a giant spray of water and an object flew out, soaring about 50 feet in the air and falling on the sand. I realized it was a girl and I ran over to her as fast as possible. She stood up stumbling and shook her head, like she was dizzy.

"Are you okay?" I said, as I came up to her.

"I have got to work on my landing," she muttered to herself. She shook off the sand from her clothes and turned to me. Her eyes widened when she saw me.

"AH! PERCY!" she yelled, before she tackled me and attacked my face with kisses.

"I missed you so much!" she mumbled between the kisses.

"Whoa, whoa," I said, as I pushed her off. I stood up and she stood up to meet my eyes. She was only a few inches shorter than me, but she looked like she could still kick my butt. She had jet black hair with a bunch of blue streaks. Her skin was softly tanned and she had bright green eyes, just like me. She looked like the ultimate rebel. She wore tight black pants with short boots, with two buckles around the ankle. She wore a black V-neck with a thin, long and solid black cardigan rolled up to her elbows. She had a bulky yet slender black watch on her left wrist and a necklace with several different little charms hanging on it. There was a diamond ring, a ceramic piece of blue candy, a Pegasus, a green scale and a green trident. She smiled and there was something familiar about it.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her eyebrows creased in confusion.

"I don't know you," I said, taking a step back. She chuckled nervously, like I was just pulling her leg.

"Percy?" she said softly. She took a step forward, and I took a step back. She looked sad and disappointed.

"Who are you?" I asked. I felt bad asking, because although there was something familiar about her, I was sure I'd never met her before. Except she seemed pretty certain I was who she wanted me to be.

"It's me, Percy. You don't remember?" she asked surprisingly.

"No, I don't," I said.

"Percy, it's me, Panda. I'm your twin sister."

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Before you judge, I'd like to let you know this is not like other twin stories. So, please, don't think it is without reading more about it. Thanks!


	3. II Panda

**II**

**PANDA**

"No, no way. I don't _have_ a sister," he said firmly. It pained me every time he said it, and I kept wishing he would start cracking up and say "just kidding", but it didn't seem like that would be happening any time soon.

"Percy, you have to believe me," I pleaded. I reached for his hand, but he quickly jerked it away. I wanted to break down and cry. I had spent an entire year of my life trying to find him, because I was sent far, far away and when I finally do, he doesn't even know me. I couldn't figure out why, but I knew it wasn't a lie. I could see it in his eyes. He honestly didn't recognize me. I thought maybe I could somehow convince him.

"Percy, you have to believe me! Look at me, look at yourself," I said, lifting my hand and pulling up a small puddle of water in front him, so he could see his reflection.

"I can control the water; we both have the same hair, the same eyes, the same color skin, even the same cheeks! I am your sister," I said. He looked at his reflection, like he was starting to consider it, but he didn't want to believe it.

"Then how come I can't remember you? At all?" he asked, pushing the water back into the ocean. I looked down, and then back up at him; his green eyes studying me. The way they always did when he was trying to figure out something about me; how I was feeling, what I was thinking, if I was telling the truth.

"I don't know," I whispered. I wanted to run at him and hug him, but I knew he would just push me away again. He bit his lip, like he was thinking about what to say next.

"You believe me, right?" I asked. He looked at me.

"If it's true… _If_… then why do I or even mom not remember you? Why would we have been… separated I guess," he said, his eyebrows creased like he was trying to sort it out in his head. I realized I hadn't thought about mom for a while. I was so busy trying to find Percy, I'd forgotten about our little apartment in New York and I felt guilty about it.

"I— well, I mean… I don't know…" I whispered when I realized I didn't remember what caused my disappearance. A cloud was entering my mind now, fogging up all the windows I thought I could clearly see through. All I knew was that I had woken up somewhere different and I didn't know why, I just knew I had to find my old life or at least what was left of it. Gods know what could've happen the entire year I was gone. I figured the way Percy was, how he can be very hard to convince, he wouldn't believe me until I told him something only his twin sister would know. And I didn't have many ideas right now about how to prove it.

"Percy, I really need someone right now. I know you don't believe me, but for now, just treat me like… a friend. Just a friend," I said. He nodded.

"Okay then… well, you said your name was…?"

"Panda. Well, technically it's Pandora, but you called me Panda once and it stuck," I smiled. He usually smiled and made fun of me whenever I would tell someone the story about how I got my name, Panda, but of course, this wasn't the Percy I knew yet.I was a stranger to him, so the story would not have the same meaning as it did for me.

"Well then, Panda, let's keep this on the down low for now, until we can figure this thing out," he said, as he passed his fingers through his hair. It still hurt to be pushed aside like that, but I knew there was nothing else I could. And he was right. I had to figure out what was going on first.

"Let's find Chiron, the camp director. I mean, you're a new camper, right?" Percy said. I was about to answer "no", because I wasn't a new camper. I had been here for six years before I disappeared, but I decided I wouldn't say anything yet. I didn't know if Percy was the only one who didn't know me or not.

"Yes, I am," I answered. I figured I shouldn't open my big fat mouth anymore would be easier on everyone. I mean, I'm just some random demigod that awkwardly landed on their beach claiming to be Percy's twin sister. Not something people would swallow easily, I guessed.

"Well, come on," he said. He gestured with his hand for me to follow and he turned to walk up the little hill and towards the Big House. All the campers that were already here stopped to look at me. Some just took a glance and kept doing what they were doing, but others just ogled at us. They were probably thinking "wow, they look so alike" or "who's the weird girl". I tried my best to ignore the stares, but sometimes it was hard. Percy seemed to think the same way. He wouldn't meet anyone's eyes and I had a pretty good idea why. He turned and walked up the steps. I followed closely behind, and I was glad as soon as we walked inside, because I was finally out of sight from everyone else.

"Let me find him. I know he's somewhere in here," Percy said and he departed to a room on our left. I stood in the living room of the Big House and I heard a sound coming from the attic. I had been told to not go up there, but curiosity overtook me. I peeked around to make sure Percy wasn't looking and I slowly walked up the steps that lead to the creepy attic. The door was slightly opened. I softly pushed it and it creaked open. Standing in the middle of the attic was a centaur. But not just any centaur, it was Chiron.

"Chiron?" I called cautiously. He whipped around and I saw his familiar scruffy, bearded face.

"I was wondering when—" he stopped abruptly when he saw me. His expression changed several times in a matter of seconds. First, he was happy to see me, then he was utterly confused and finally he narrowed his eyes at me like he didn't know why an unknown camper would be up in the attic.

"And who might you be?" he asked, hiding a blue-tinted glass bottle.

"Pandora… or Panda," I said. He studied me, like I was a puzzle he was trying to figure out. He was about to say something, but he was interrupted when Percy came bounding up the stairs and into the attic.

"Oh, I see you guys have met," he said awkwardly.

"Yes, we have. Why don't we go downstairs and talk?" Chiron said. We nodded and headed to the living room. We sat down and Chiron was the first to talk.

"Panda, where you from?" he asked me.

"New York," I answered and I was really hoping he wouldn't ask me more questions, because I didn't have all the answers.

"How did you arrive here to Camp Half-Blood? I don't believe I've seen you yet." Before I could answer, Percy interjected.

"I met her at school," he said. "We had English together and we got attacked by a dracaena, so I figured she was a demigod."

The lie seemed kind of sketchy, but I guessed it would have to do for now.

"Yeah, it was incredibly weird," I lied. The bad thing about pretending to be a new camper, is trying to act dumb about everything I already knew. It looked like Chiron was skeptical about it, but he said nothing else about it.

"Well, Percy, why don't you show Panda around and tell her about Camp Half-Blood and since we don't know your parent yet, correct?" Chiron asked, and I nodded. "Percy can set you up with Cabin Eleven for now until you are claimed. So, run along, I have some business to attend to," Chiron said with a kind smile as he stood up and walked into his office.

"Well, let's go," Percy said. It was rather frustrating I had to spend the night in Cabin Eleven. I didn't like it the first time I had to stay there, or we, since Percy and I were both undetermined when we got here. And I doubt I will like it the second time.

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Thanks for the reviews! Let me know if this chapter was any good :)


	4. III Panda

**III**

**PANDA**

Percy walked me to Cabin Eleven, where I would have to spend the night. I didn't like the thought of that. I had enough issues last time.

"Are you ever going to tell Chiron who I am?" I asked Percy. He stopped and looked around to make sure no one was in earshot.

"I don't even know who you are, Panda," he said. I really wished he would stop saying that, because it hurt me every time he did. "No one else remembers you."

"And if no one _ever_ remembers me, Percy? What am I going to do then? Just roam around camp _knowing_ these people, but pretending I've never met them before? Watch my every word, because something about the past will pop up?" I said, staring firmly into his eyes. He paused, like he wasn't sure what to say next. Then, I thought about a person who could help us, the one person who likes to solve the mystery every time. Annabeth.

"Percy, is Annabeth here?" I asked. He looked at me confused. He glanced at his watch.

"She should be here in the next ten to twenty minutes. Why?"

"Maybe she can help us," I said, walking back to the tree that protected the borders of Camp Half Blood. Percy fell in next to me.

"I don't think she'd believe you Panda. She can be very skeptical about things."

"Percy, I know her. I know how she is. You just have to pick your words carefully. And I've had some practice with her. Just give me a break," I said, rolling my eyes. Annabeth could be difficult, but if you said the right things, she opens up a little to you. Plus, when I had been here, she had told me something that not many people knew.

About fifteen minutes later, a car pulled up. Annabeth opened the passenger side door and slung a duffel bag over her shoulder. She leaned into the car again, said good-bye to her dad, closed the door and then waved at him as he drove off. When she turned, she instinctively smiled, and I guessed she was smiling at Percy, because as soon as her eyes fell on me, her smile faded. She walked up the hill, her blonde curls bouncing against her shoulders.

"Hey Percy," she said, giving him a kiss on the lips. My eyes widened. Percy didn't tell me they were a couple now. I tried to act normal, but it was hard trying to cover up my surprise. When she turned to me, Percy was blushing.

"Hi," she said, eyeing me suspiciously. "Are you a new camper?" she asked.

"Yep," I answered back. I guess it was real now, _no one_ remembered me.

"Annabeth, this is Panda. I met her at school," he said, but then he winced like he shouldn't have said that.

"You never mentioned a Panda," she said. Great. I could only imagine what was running through her mind now. That's all I needed. Annabeth thinking I was trying to jump her boyfriend, a.k.a my _brother_.

"I transferred really late into the school year," I said, trying to save my brother's butt. "Got kicked out of my last one and well, his school was the only one that would take me. I didn't have a class with him until the last few weeks. Had a small argument with my English teacher, so…" I said, trying my best to explain why she had never heard of me.

"Oh. I hate when that happens," she said. I felt so relieved. She was still suspicious, no doubt. But she had let go most of her skepticism about me.

"So, Annabeth, Percy and I needed to talk to you," I said. She creased her brows.

"Really?" she said, looking at Percy, whom was staring blankly at the ocean. Did his girlfriend scare him that much? I rolled my eyes.

"Come on," I said, as I walked towards the Big House's porch. Annabeth and Percy followed me and I sat down inside the living room. They sat in front of me.

"Annabeth, this is going to sound crazy, but it's true," I began. Perhaps, I'm a little rusty in choosing my words perfectly. Annabeth cocked an eyebrow and glanced at Percy.

"A year ago, after Kronos, Percy and I had gone on a simple mission." Percy frowned, like he was trying to remember something that didn't happen. "Something must've happened, because the next day I woke up in Europe. I don't know why or how, but I couldn't remember an entire week of my life or how to find Camp Half-Blood," I said. I paused and bit my lip as I let Annabeth soak it in. Her expression hadn't changed and I knew that wasn't a good sign. She was thinking, and probably not what I wanted her to think.

"It's true I got here today, but no one remembers me. Not even you," I said. "And…" before I said it, Percy put his hand on his face. He knew what I was going to say and he knew Annabeth would probably flip.

"I'm Percy's twin sister," I finished. The room was silent for the longest ten seconds of my life. Annabeth looked at me in surprise and turned to scowl at Percy, then she looked at me confused, but angry. It seemed like she couldn't figure out who to chew out first.

"Percy?" she finally said. He sighed.

"Annabeth, I know as much as you do," he said softly. Then, she turned to me.

"You expect me to believe you? To believe you've been here for years and no one remembers you? You can't just waltz in here claiming to be Percy's twin sister and expect people to believe you," she said, as she stood up to look down on me. At first, I was hurt. My attempt at trying to explain what had happened to me had failed. But then, I got angry. I had been on my own for an entire year; starving, dehydrated, attack my monsters. I had no one to rely on, no one to depend on and here's Annabeth telling me I was wrong. I stood up to meet her and she narrowed her eyes at me. She definitely wouldn't like me after this, but it was the only thing I could do to salvage any possibility at proving I was telling the truth.

"Five years ago, you told me you weren't sure if you could continue the mission because you loved Luke too much. You told me you had thought about contacting him, which you did, and had offered to run away with him if he promised to leave Camp Half-Blood and Olympus alone. He declined, because he wanted his revenge too much. You were hurt. And I was the one who was there for you," I said firmly. It pained me to bring it up, because I knew how hard it was on her. But what other choice did I have? Her eyes widened and so did Percy's. Her eyes watered and she sat down again. Percy moved so his body was facing her.

"You wanted to leave with him?" he asked in bewilderment. I sat down again, guilty of what I'd done. Annabeth took a deep breath and looked at him.

"No… no," she whispered. "I only did it to save us. To save you," she said. "I thought maybe… if he still cared about me, he would forget about his thirst for revenge and stop everything, but… he was too far gone," she said. I could see Percy was still a tiny bit hurt, but he embraced Annabeth and tried to calm her down. Then, Annabeth looked at me.

"How did you know?" she asked. Percy had the same question in his eyes.

"Like I said, I'm Percy's sister," I said. She shook her head.

"There's still debate about that," she said.

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Shout out to **Percy Waterblue** for the reviews! Thanks!


	5. IV Percy

**IV**

**PERCY**

In a matter of seconds, she had stripped Annabeth of all her armor, like so few could, and left her standing there to the point she wanted to sob. Panda had a stern look in her eyes, but yet she seemed kind; like it pained her to even bring it up. Annabeth fell into the empty space next to me, and Panda slumped back down in her chair. I turned to Annabeth, a twinge of pain in my heart, though I knew it shouldn't be there. I mean, after all, I was the one who ended up with the girl in the end. _The_ girl.

"You wanted to leave with him?" I asked. I knew I shouldn't have asked, but I just… I needed to know.

"No… No," she said softly. "I only did it to save us. To save you," she said. "I thought maybe… if he still cared about me, he would forget his thirst for revenge and stop everything, but… he was too far gone," she finished. She looked like Panda had opened up an old wound and she was trying to lick it closed. I embraced her, and the fact that she had asked Luke to leave her didn't matter. I had her in my arms, safe and alive.

Annabeth then peeked over my shoulder and asked, "How did you know?" Panda moved in her chair. I wanted to know how too. No one could just pluck out a memory and have it only being "good luck".

"Like I said, I'm Percy's sister," she said again. I felt Annabeth's shoulders tense a bit at her, but she only replied, "There's still debate about that."

Panda frowned a bit, but when everyone is out to get you, she's got to understand it's not like we can _just believe her_. Annabeth stood up, confidence back with a vengeance.

"We'll speak about this later, but we should let Chiron know," she said, looking at me, as if daring me to protest. I did the wise thing, I stayed quiet. She glared at Panda, and then left the Big House, leaving me and Panda alone.

"Hasn't changed much, has she," Panda said sadly. I wanted to comfort her, let her know everything would be all right. It felt almost like an instinct. Like a need to protect her, keep her from wrong. And whenever I looked at her, the way her eyes screamed pain and the way her lips never even twitched into a smile, I felt the same. I felt what she felt. It was crazy, but I knew I did. But I stayed back. I wanted to believe she was telling the truth, but that was just wishful thinking. I had no other family except for mom and Tyson (and maybe a few hundred cousins). She was probably just confused.

"If you mean she's been that way since she was twelve, yeah. She hasn't," I said. Panda looked up at me, her green eyes studying my face. I could feel her poking and prodding for my feelings, but I steeled my resolve. I cleared my throat.

"What do we do now?" I asked. It was still morning. Chiron wasn't around yet so we couldn't talk about this and I couldn't just leave Panda hanging. She thought. And then she just shrugged.

"It's not like I have much to do right now," she said, looking at her watch. That's when I really noticed what she was looking at. Her watch seemed completely normal at first, but now there was a whole new side to it. It was black, but it had very subtle engravings along the straps. Not just any engravings though. They were _Greek_ engravings. I couldn't make out exactly what it said, because her other hand was covering most of it, but I made out a few words. And they surprised me. The words I could make out were _heart_, _one_, _double _and _journey_. It didn't really make sense to me, but it must really have an impact on Panda, because her eyes began to tear up. The watch itself had little, super tiny drawings around the time. How she could even make them out, was beyond me. She sighed.

"Like my watch?" she said. I was caught off guard. Had I been that obvious?

"Um…" I managed to say, before she made a weak smile and spoke.

"You wouldn't really believe me if I told you what it meant or where it even came from," she said, locking her brilliant green eyes with mine.

"Try me," I said. At this point, nothing else could really surprise me.

"Tyson made it for me," she said. Okay, maybe not _nothing_. My expression must've been priceless, because she chuckled.

"It's just like the one he gave you. You know, the one that got totally smashed in battle," she said. After that incident, I never bothered telling anyone about it. Especially because Tyson got a little sad when he saw the deformed and broken shield.

"It says: Two Hearts. One Journey. Double the Trouble Forever," she smiled. "Tyson might not seem like it, but he sometimes has the perfect way to sum things up into the perfect words," she said, showing off her watch as proof. I wasn't sure if she was telling the truth or just pulling my leg, but it seemed pretty authentic. No Percy. You need _real_ proof. Not a simple memory. She leaned forward, placing her elbows on her knees as she spoke.

"I know you don't believe me, but please… don't shut me out," she pleaded. I suddenly felt a pang of guilt. Why? I wasn't sure, but something about what she said made me feel that way. I had to shake it off.

"I'm going to go spar," I said, getting up. Her eyes followed me as I walked out the door. I moved quickly to the arena. I pulled out Riptide and began slashing away at the dummies. Fighting, getting my body moving; always helped me clear my mind; gave me space to think. No one got near me while I yielded Riptide, and that was perfectly fine.

I jabbed, swung, slashed, but obviously did no damage to this stupid dummy. I got angrier, though I wasn't completely sure why. I just knew I was. I looked at the scarecrow face on the dummy and lost it. I grabbed a javelin from the armory and thrust it towards the dummy. It went straight through it, only stopping to hit the trunk of a tree behind it.

"OW!" a tree nymph yelled. She pulled out the javelin, threw it to the floor and stomped on it. She huffed in my direction and melted back into her tree mumbling something about "finding a tree next to something nicer than weapons". But my anger wasn't done yet. No, it was far from it. I grabbed about five throwing knives, and as I ran through the obstacles, I threw them. My aiming wasn't usually that great, but three out of five hit that stupid scarecrow right in the forehead.

I grabbed a pair of chain boleadoras and swung it towards the dummy. The boleadora wrapped around the neck with such force, the head just snapped off. Now I was getting somewhere. My steam was wearing off. I saw a glint of silver in the sand and I knew it was some dagger. So I grabbed and threw it without even aiming. Instead of hitting the dummy with a _thud_, it was caught in midair, inches away from its chest. Poseidon was standing there, the dagger in his hand.

"Good throw, son," he said, as he flicked the dagger away and it placed itself perfectly into the armory. I was panting and tired, but I nodded. He got closer and the smell of salty sea air passed me by. He was in a pair of tan board shorts, a green T-shirt and his fishing hat.

"What is it?" I asked, picking up Riptide from the sandy floor and placing it (pen-sized of course) into my pocket. He chuckled.

"Can't a dad just visit his son?" he said.

"Usually, I wouldn't argue with that, but gods are an exception. Most of the time, there's a catch," I said. I felt a little guilty, but it was true.

"You're that distrustful in gods, huh?" He said, but it was a rhetorical question, because he continued without even letting me answer, although I think he knew exactly what I was going to say.

"I noticed there's a new visitor," he said, but his voice suddenly got scary.

"Yeah," I said. "Why?"

"No reason," he said, gritting his teeth. He looked across camp and when I followed his gaze, I saw what he was looking at. It was Panda. She was walking down the beach, tossing pebbles as far as fifty feet. He looked back at me. His eyes were full of anger, but I saw something else. I saw pain.

"Panda? What about her?" I asked. He looked at me and I felt heat touching my skin.

"Keep her safe, Percy. I'm counting on you," he said, he turned to walk away, but before he disappeared he said something else. "_She's_ counting on you."

Then, in a few steps he shimmered and disappeared.

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I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I think I almost destroyed it until I got the itch to add more detail to Percy and well, I think I saved it from a disaster XD Please review, give me your thoughts. Really helps me shape the story for future chapters to come!


	6. V Percy

**V**

**PERCY**

After Poseidon left, leaving me pretty dumbfounded, I heard a familiar sound. It was time for dinner. I walked to the pavilion and sat at my lonely table. I tried to drown out my thoughts about Panda and what Poseidon said, by stuffing myself with food (yeah, after I threw half of it into the fire). But it didn't work. I looked over and saw the table of Athena. They were all exchanging scrolls, pencils, schematics and information. Usually, Annabeth was right smack in the middle of it, but tonight, she sat off to the side, rolling a boiled egg over her plate. She rested her head on her knuckles, but she didn't look bored. She looked concentrated and I had a good idea about what.

Then my eyes landed on the Hermes table. The table of the loudest and usually most obnoxious campers. To the farthest corner of the table, Panda sat. She didn't even have food on her plate. She stared at the beach, her arms crossed over the table. Her cardigan wasn't rolled up anymore and I was surprised to see the trident of her necklace was now a dark blue. She passed her fingers through her blue-streaked hair and then she slumped her head onto her hand. I felt bad. I knew she didn't belong at the Hermes table. She belonged here. At the Poseidon table. Mostly because I'd seen her control the water when she was trying to convince me we were twins. Distant sister… I can manage. But twins? That was something else. Not to mention she knows more than I thought she did. Especially when she had disarmed Annabeth in the Big House.

"Just stop thinking about it!" I mumbled, slapping my forehead with my palm. I had to do something about this soon. I mean, we couldn't just walk around camp forever with this hanging on our shoulders. There had to some kind of explanation. And I was determined to find it. Dinner ended. I stood up and walked to my cabin. I walked inside and threw myself on my bed. Before I knew it, I fell asleep and that's when my dreams barged in.

I appeared in the middle of the throne room on Mount Olympus. It was completely empty. There was a small fire next to me and it illuminated the room with a soft glow. Suddenly a voice boomed through the empty room and two very big figures walked into view, except I couldn't see who they were.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"

"NOTHING THAT CONCERNS YOU!" a voice yelled back. I knew these voices. All too well.

"YOU KNOW DAMN WELL IT CONCERNS ME!" the voice, who I was pretty sure belonged to my father, yelled.

"This discussion is over," said the other voice, who I was positive belonged to Zeus.

"No, it is not! You might think you make all the decisions around here, but you are mistaken! You don't rule _everything_!" Poseidon said. Zeus stayed silent, but I was sure he was giving his best death glare. Without saying another word, Zeus disappeared. Poseidon sighed.

"Percy, stay out of this," my father said. How did he know I was even here? He snapped his fingers and I bolted up in my bed. Sunlight streamed through the windows and hit me painfully in the eyes. There was a knock on my door. I yelled a "give me a second" and changed into a new set of clothes. When I opened the door, I found Annabeth standing there. She was wearing a pair of shorts and the Camp Half-Blood T-shirt. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail and she had an impatient look on her face.

"Let's go," she said, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the Big House. This was officially a record of the amount of times I've been in the Big House in less than two days. We walked inside and Panda was already sitting there with Chiron. Panda wasn't wearing her cardigan anymore, but she had a black, silver studded belt on. This time, the trident of her necklace was gold. Did she have different colored charms or… is it like a mood trident? Then I saw Rachel. Her hair was in messy curls flowing over her shoulders, with nothing but a red hair clip. She wore a pair of skinny jeans with red and blue paint stains all over them, a white V-neck and red rio sneakers.

"Nice of you to join us Percy," Chiron said as I sat down. I nodded. Rachel looked at me and smiled. I hadn't seen her since last year when Camp Half-Blood was over. It was actually kind of refreshing to see her again.

"Hey, Perce," she said.

"Hey Rachel," I said back. Chiron cleared his throat.

"Rachel brought some… unsettling news," he began. "Rachel," he said, nodding in her direction. Rachel leaned forward.

"A few weeks before school ended, I had another… episode," she said. "It's not very good…" she said. She stuck her hand in her pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. She tried her best to straighten it out on the coffee table. Everyone leaned in as she read it out loud.

"_At the end of summer days  
__A death shall rock history  
__For better or for worse  
__At the hand of a twin  
__A god shall fall to his knees_."

Everyone stayed silent, until Chiron broke it.

"This prophecy… appeared many, many years ago," he said softly, staring at the piece of paper.

"It was almost lost in history," he said, picking up the piece of paper and staring intently at it. "Until a few weeks ago, that is."

Panda shifted in her seat. Her expression was hard to decipher.

"What does this mean?" I asked. It couldn't be a coincidence, no, it _wasn't_ a coincidence that this prophecy mentioned the word "twin". And that only a few weeks later, Panda shows up. I had a feeling Panda knew something about this prophecy, but if she did, she said nothing about it.

* * *

This chapter took me some thinking and I think it came out pretty well. Sorry if the prophecy seems a little awkward, but well, it's not that easy, lol. Please, please, please, please, let me know what you thought of this chapter! It's really one of the most crucial and I've got to get it right. Thanks if you do! By the way, if anyone can think of some pretty cool "bad boy" names, let me know! There's a little surprise along the way ;) Well... another surprise.


	7. VI Panda

**VI**

**PANDA**

The prophecy shook everything inside me. A sensation of heat fell through me and a small spark of recognition was ignited. There was something familiar about it. But why that was, was still a mystery to me. Percy's eyes fell on me and I wondered what he was thinking. Was he starting to believe me? Or was he suspecting I was some evil spawn that appeared on shore? I leaned toward the first option, also because it was better than the second one.

"I'm not sure what this means exactly, but we should keep our eyes open for any clues," Chiron said. "If anyone has any new information, don't hesitate. Prophecies like this… shouldn't be messed with," he finished. His eyes swung once between me and Percy, almost as if saying "I know you're hiding something". Annabeth nudged Percy and I knew exactly why. Percy looked reluctant, but Annabeth nodded for him to say it. He sighed and then leaned forward.

"I have something," Percy said, to get Chiron's attention, and that didn't take much. Chiron looked at him and waited for him to continue.

"Um…" he said, suddenly looking down like he wasn't sure what to say. I saved him by telling the story myself.

"Percy and I are twins," I said, trying to put the sound of truth into my words as much as possible. Percy looked up at me, his eyes holding a sign of doubt, but also a sign of gratitude.

"Might," Percy added quickly. Everyone looked at him. "Might be twins…" he whispered, as he looked down again. Chiron raised an eyebrow and Rachel was shocked. She sat there, her hand over her mouth. Then, Chiron narrowed his eyes as he studied me. I gulped. I was praying to the gods Chiron wouldn't chew me out like Annabeth did. Chiron was like a father to me. It would hurt tremendously if he stood up and yelled liar in my face.

"I'm not sure what happened, but I disappeared a year ago. For some reason… no one remembers me. At all…" I said, my heart suddenly hurting. I sunk back into my chair, trying to hide from Chiron's old brown eyes.

"You believe this to be true?" Chiron asked, but the question wasn't directed towards me. He had asked Percy.

"I— I don't know," he sighed. He buried his face in his hands; leaving me pretty much alone to defend for myself, since Annabeth wouldn't.

"Wait, this might actually have something to do with the prophecy," Rachel said. I wasn't sure if she was saying it to decipher the prophecy or to stand up for me, but either way it made me feel better. Percy looked up and Chiron scratched his beard. I could tell Chiron had a million things going to through his mind right now. He must know something, something I don't. He glanced up to the attic and I remembered he was holding something when I found him up there. What was it again? Oh, it was blue-tinted glass bottle. Whatever that meant.

"You might be on to something Rachel," Chiron said. "There's really nothing much we can do for now, though. Do not speak of this to anyone, understood?" he said, eyeing us all. Everyone nodded.

"Well, I believe it is time for Capture the Flag," Chiron said. He nodded and clopped out of the house. I had completely forgotten about the game.

"Well, Percy's on my team," Annabeth said, casting her grey eyes at me. "I guess you are too."

Great. I would have to let all the campers kick my butt, so my "true identity" wasn't revealed. Just perfect. I had already gotten beaten up enough up in Europe, now I have to _let_ myself get beat up.

"Okay, you guys will take up the left flank, while you will be taking up the right," Annabeth directed. On our side, we had the Hermes Cabin, the Demeter cabin, sadly the Aphrodite cabin, the Athena cabin (of course) and well, the Poseidon cabin, which wasn't exactly a huge group. All the others, except for Hypnos's kids since they couldn't even wake up enough to walk out the door, were on the other team.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked Annabeth, since she pretty much left me out in the cold. She looked at me and the smirked.

"Border patrol… on the west," she answered. Border patrol? That's what newbies got and no one ever bothered them. Second, the flag was all the way on the east side. The other team would be coming in through the east, not the west. I knew what she was doing. She was trying to get rid of me.

"Are you serious?" I boasted. I was getting tired of being given the cold shoulder.

"Yes," she said firmly.

"I don't think so," I said, taking a step closer to her. Now, all the other campers were staring at us. No one ever spoke to Annabeth that way, especially for Capture the Flag.

"I'm team captain right now. You'll go where I tell you to go," she said.

"You're just doing that because of who I am, right?" I growled. Some of the campers murmured with each other; clearly confused about my statement. She narrowed her eyes. She was about to say something, but Percy interjected.

"Guys, come on, let's not get into an argument," Percy said, raising his hands like a sign of surrender.

"Not now Percy," I said, keeping my stare on Annabeth.

"Yeah Percy, I want to see what she's going to do about it," Annabeth said sarcastically.

"Oh, how about I just—" Percy stood between us before I could get any closer.

"Percy, not now!" I said angrily. Without even realizing (plus force of habit) I raised my hand, pulled up a ball of water from a nearby puddle and thrust it towards Percy. Percy fell to the floor, not wet, but kind of grumpy. All the campers gasped and that's when I realized exactly what I'd done. Percy jumped up and his shoulders were hunched. He grabbed my shoulder to pull me back, but I swatted him away.

"That's it," he growled. He pulled up a small wave from the creek and threw it on me. I fell down, coughing up water. Good. Some sibling rivalry. I missed that. Annabeth stumbled back, getting out of our away and all the campers jump backwards, but stayed close enough to watch the show.

I grabbed the trident on my necklace and yanked it. In a second, I held my five-foot long Planaxis trident in hand. Planaxis was fiery red with splotches of black everywhere and a Planaxis shell on each point (hence its name). Everyone gasped, but I was too busy to care. Percy was surprised, but he recovered quickly and pulled out Riptide. We charged.

Percy swung, but I blocked his strike with Planaxis. I swiped his feet from under him, but he kipped up. He kicked me in the gut and I stumbled backwards. I spun my trident, and jabbed the blunt end on his foot. He bent over a little; I put my hand on his head and smashed him in the face with my knee. He stumbled backwards. He was fine, except for a little drop of blood on his lip. He crouched down and swiped my legs from under me. I fell flat on the ground. I stood up and before I could regain my balance, he hit me in my ribs with the flat of his sword. He spun and elbowed me on the side of the head. I stumbled sideways and tripped. Okay, time for a little trick. I jabbed Planaxis into the ground and lifted myself up into the air. Percy ducked, and kicked the bottom of my trident, making me lose my balance. He says he doesn't remember me… but he remembers how to get me off balance. I grunted. I willed a wave that stood over my head and he did exactly the same. We were about to hurl them at each other when I voice echoed through the forest.

"ENOUGH!" Percy and I froze. The waves fell, splashing everyone who was too close. Chiron galloped into the middle of the campers and he didn't look happy.

"I expected better from the both of you," he said sternly. "You are forbidden from playing Capture the Flag today," he said, giving us both the glare. I shook Planaxis and it shrunk back into its one inch size and I clipped back onto my necklace. Percy capped Riptide and without looking or saying anything, we stomped out of the forest.

* * *

If you want to know what the Planaxis shell is, check this link:

imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&tbo=d&tbm=isch&tbnid=IyMZgaStJrq5tM:&imgrefurl= 1/Shell_ &docid=8F99worBfoF43M&imgurl= Shell_Images/P-R/Planaxis_planicostatus_ &w=431&h=326&ei=jPeaUOqDCYvq8gSb8ICAAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=742&vpy=300&dur=400&hovh=195&hovw=258&tx=177&ty=122&sig=110166574303862936571&page=1&tbnh=130&tbnw=154&start=0&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:11,s:0,i:108&biw=1366&bih=625


	8. VII Panda

**VII**

**PANDA**

Percy didn't say anything the whole trip to our "punishment". We had to pick the hooves of the horses. I guess it wasn't that bad since we were children of Poseidon. Percy never looked at me, but he didn't look angry; which I was relieved about.

"Percy, I'm sorry," I said. He looked at me and stopped in his tracks.

"I'm sorry too," he said back. "I shouldn't have lost my cool like that."

"Are you kidding me? Percy, I know you remembered something about me during that fight. I know you did, because if you didn't, you couldn't have thrown me off balance like that," I said, a smile playing on my lips.

"It was probably just luck," he replied, which completely knocked me off my high horse.

"Percy, that wasn't _luck_. That was a _memory_," I said, grabbing his shoulder so he wouldn't walk away. He shoved my hands off.

"Panda, we may be brother and sister, but there is no way we're twins, got it?!" he said, as he turned and left for the stables. I sighed.

"Why are you so convinced I'm lying?!" I yelled back, catching up with him. "What good would that do me? What would I gain from it?" I asked.

"Nothing! But I can't deal with this anymore," he said, shaking his head. His voice sounded strangled. Like he was trying to not let his emotions get the best of him. I could feel his pain.

"Percy, what else do I have to do to prove to you I'm who I say I am?" I said, resting my hand on his shoulder. He raised his big green eyes to look at me. He stayed silent, but then it dawned on me. I knew something no one else would know. I smiled, because I knew this would be it. It had to be.

"When we were seven years old… mom took us to the zoo. That same day, a zookeeper was walking around with a macaw on her shoulder. You wanted to touch him, because he was so, in your words, _colorful and pretty_. The zookeeper put it on your shoulder and while mom was taking the picture, you smiling like a big goof ball, the macaw nipped at your ear," I said, but I laughed at the memory. "You jumped so hard, the macaw took off and it took the zookeepers an hour to get him back," I laughed. Percy smiled, but he wasn't sure if he should believe yet or not.

"He left you with a little scar," I said, moving his messy black hair away from his ear. "Right here," I said, passing my finger over a tiny white scar at the very top of his ear. He touched his ear and studied me.

"How did you know?" he said surprised. I smiled.

"I'm your sister. I don't know what else I have to do to prove that to you," I said, tapping the tip of his nose with my finger. Then, I couldn't stand it anymore. I embraced him in the strongest hug I could will my arms to give. I figured he would push me off again and tell me I was still mistaken, but he hugged me back. He smelled of salt and water and it smelt like home. We stayed that way. Hugging like it was the last day we would be alive. Then he pulled away to look at me. And he smiled.

"Sorry for hitting you with the wave of water," he said. I chuckled.

"I'm sorry for throwing a water ball at you," I said back and he smiled. I was about to ask him if he finally believed me, when Percy's head snapped towards the stables.

"I'm coming!" he said, rolling his eyes. He looked at me, shrugged and walked into the stables. I followed closely behind him, and saw him petting Blackjack. Oh, how I missed that goofball.

"Blackjack!" I said, coming forward to greet him.

_Huh?_ His voice echoed in my head. Great. Not even the horse remembers me. I sighed. I didn't even feel like explaining my situation to him, so I left to grab the tools for their hooves. Percy stayed petting Blackjack and having some mental conversation with him. As I walked over to the little tool shed, I noticed a flash of white from the corner of my eye. Could it be? I reluctantly looked to my left and there, browsing on a stack of hay was _my_ Pegasus; Sapphire. I gasped and Sapphire lazily lifted her head up and glanced at me.

"Sapphire?" I whispered, as I walked closer to her stable. Somehow, she was able to narrow her eyes at me in suspicion.

"It's me, Panda," I said, with a soft smile, hoping she would remember me. She walked over to me and studied me. I slowly stretched out my hand, but she pulled away from me.

"_I do not know you, stranger,"_ she echoed in my head.

"Are you sure?" I asked. She hesitated, but replied, _"I am sure."_

That's when I lost it. I finally broke. I ran outside, leaving Percy confused and hid behind the stables. My back slammed against the wall, and I slid down with my face buried in my hands. I started to bawl. I clutched my chest and I could feel my heart ripping to shreds. I lost everything. Absolutely everything. No one remembered me, no one believed me. I was _alone_.

I could barely breathe. My heart was tightening up and I choked between sobs. I slumped to the floor, tears streaming down my face. I thought I could deal with it, but I was wrong. I was slowly breaking and I felt it. I felt everything. Half an hour later, I silenced. I laid on the floor, staring blankly and empty-mindedly up at the blue sky. I felt nothing now.

"Are you okay?" a voice asked. I didn't recognize the voice, but I was too numb to make any effort to reply. A shadow crouched next to me, and a boy's face hovered over mine; a worried look in his eyes.

"What do you want?" I croaked, looking away from his big chocolate brown eyes.

"Come on," he said, as he slid his arm under me and lifted me up.

"Leave me alone," I grunted, moving away until my back hit the wall.

"Did something happen?" he asked worriedly.

"No, just leave me alone," I growled. He sighed and sat next to me.

"I'm Ryder," he said, giving me his hand, but I didn't even glance at him. He awkwardly pulled his hand back.

"What's your name?" he asked curiously.

"Why do you care?" I snapped, throwing my gaze on him. He didn't flinch or pull back, which surprised me because most people did. He shrugged.

"Just trying to make a new friend," he said, turning to look across the camp. I sighed and my head fell against the wooden wall of the stables. He looked at me from the corner of his eye, his eyebrow raised.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. Someone was finally treating me nicely without caring who I was or where I came from or why I was here and here I am, treating him like a pile of Minotaur manure.

"It's okay. I had a bad day too," he said. I looked at him and that's when I really noticed his features. He wore a snug black t-shirt over his muscular and very, very tanned body. His hair was solid black, like mine, but it was cropped and standing up messily. He wore regular jeans with black sneakers and a black, thick bracelet. His face looked angelic, like the gods themselves chiseled out his face.

"I'm Panda," I said.

"Well, that's an odd name," he said, flashing me a crooked smile. I shrugged. He then stood up and shook off the dirt from his jeans.

"Well, Panda, why don't we go for a walk and shake off some of that anger of yours," he said, giving me his hand. I thought about it twice, wondering if it was a good idea or not. But I grabbed his hand and he pulled me up.

* * *

Shout out to **Percy Waterblue **for helping me! Thanks!

And a shout out to **DaisyFace (or ShimmeringDaisyFace) **for the review! :)


	9. VIII Percy

**VIII**

**PERCY**

I tried to follow her, but she'd run out too fast. I lost her as soon as she left the stables. I didn't understand what made her leave, but I decided she was like me in more ways than one. I should just let her deal with her problems. If I tried to help, I knew she would just snap at me, so I let her go. I went back into the stables, feeling guilty about not running after her. I sighed and shook my head. She would be fine. _She can take a hit_ I thought, but it didn't make me feel any better. I finished picking the hooves of the horses and pegasi and left for my cabin.

I sat next to the little water fountain dad had given me and Tyson had fixed. I lay down next to it and closed my eyes to the soft gurgling. Before I knew it, I fell asleep.

I was transported somewhere unknown. I was standing on a worn out dirt road in the middle of nowhere. I looked around, but all I saw were mountains with holes in them and a river flowing by. There was no one around. _Nothing_. I did the only thing I could do. I walked. I walked over rocks and mounds of dirt and on little trails up the mountains, but I was getting absolutely nowhere. I sighed. I sat down and stared at the passing river. A wind blew through and I heard a soft rattle. I turned to see a bent and damaged pole, with a crinkled and dirty green sign on it. I could barely make out what it said, not to mention my dyslexia didn't help. On the broken sign, the faded white letters read "_Marmes Rock shelter"_.

"This has to be it!" a voice echoed. I couldn't see anyone, but I knew who the voice belonged to. Panda.

Before I could do anything, a huge wind wafted by so hard, I stumbled backwards and fell off the mountain. Before I hit the ground, I woke up and sat bolt up on the floor gasping and sweating. I looked out the window and it was black. I glanced at my watch; 7:15 PM. I had slept right through dinner. I pulled out a Snicker bar from my nightstand and started munching on it. I tried to ignore the dream, but it replayed itself over and over in my head until I couldn't take it anymore. I got up and walked to the next door to see if Panda had come in. After the fight, Chiron told her it was okay for her to stay in Cabin Three. I knocked on the door and a minute later, Panda opened it. She was still wearing her black V-neck and pants, but this time she was barefoot and her hair was in a messy bun.

"Is something wrong?" she asked worriedly.

"I need to talk to you," I said. Her expression changed to seriousness and her trident went from green to black. I didn't think that was good.

"Okay," she said, pushing the door away and gestured for me to come in. "Talk to me," she said, crossing her arms. I took a breath and told her about my dream. Her expression didn't change the whole time, though her eyebrows would crease every once in a while.

"Do you know what it might mean?" I asked. She grabbed her hair and paced back and forth.

"I feel like I should know. I _know_ I should, but I can't— I— ugh!" she said, before she fell to her knees and hit the ground. "Why can't I remember?" she said, looking up at me. Her trident turned from black to a mixture of black and blue. I walked closer to her and knelt in front of her.

"We'll figure it out, okay," I said, putting my hands on her shoulders. She grabbed one of my hands and looked at me.

"Thanks for telling me," she said. She squeezed my hand and forced a smile. "We should get some sleep." She stood up and moved her hair out of her face.

"Are you okay?" I asked. Although she seemed confident and pulled together, I could tell she wasn't. She was broken and I was amazed at how much she could hide behind her smile.

"I'm fine," she said. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," I said, as she walked to her bed and slumped into the bundle of sheets. Something felt off about it, but I figured it was nothing important. I left and closed the door behind me. I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling that moved with the reflection of the fountain. I kept remembering the dream and what _Marmes Rock shelter_ could mean, but I came up with nothing. I tried to make sense of it, desperately, but nothing came to mind. I twisted and turned in bed, unable to relax enough. I sighed and closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on other things; like the ocean. I was close to falling asleep again when I heard a very soft _thud._ I looked around, but I didn't see anything. I had the urge to check on Panda, but when I opened her door, her bed was empty. I instinctively ran outside and saw her walking down the middle of the cabins, with a backpack thrown over her shoulder.

"Panda!" I yelled, as I ran to catch up to her.

"Where are you going?" I asked, as I grabbed her arm to stop her from walking any further.

"Percy please, I have to do this," she said, pulling away from me.

"Then at least let me come with you!" I yelled. She paused and looked at me.

"You would come with me?" she asked surprised. I started to wonder if it was a good idea or not, but I figured Panda would leave no matter what I said, so I nodded.

"You've got five minutes. I'll be waiting by the tree," she said. I left to grab my stuff from my cabin. I pulled out the duffel bag from my under my bed and packed some ambrosia, nectar and extra clothes, plus some drachmas and regular money. I put my sneakers on, threw the bag over my shoulder and ran out the door. As I passed the Athena cabin, I suddenly felt guilty. I was leaving and not even telling Annabeth. I felt like I was betraying her, especially because she'd been with me through so much. I thought about it twice, but I ended up writing a note and placing it between the hinges. I hesitated, wondering if it was good idea or not, but I pushed the doubt aside and power walked to the tree and to my surprise, I found Panda and the guy who had been with her on the beach. It looked like she was arguing with him, but they both silenced as soon as I approached.

"Is he coming with us?" I asked, eyeing him suspiciously. I had only seen this guy once and Panda hadn't told me much about him. He wore the same clothes, except now he had a gray jacket on.

"No," Panda answered.

"Yes," the guy added firmly. Panda glared at him. I could see she wanted to yell at him, but didn't because I was here. I felt uncomfortable having a stranger travelling with us. I didn't want to repeat any mistakes in trusting strangers, not to mention something about him… Something was a little off. It felt almost like something you'd feel with a child of Hades, but he was different, I just wasn't sure what exactly was different. But I swallowed my doubts, hoping it wouldn't come and bite me in the ass.

"Well, if you're coming with us, I think it's safe for me to know who you are," I said. Panda rolled her eyes, clearly upset.

"Ryder," he said, extending his hand.

"Percy," I said, giving him a handshake.

"Let's just go now," Panda said impatiently, through gritted teeth. She started walking down the hill, her blue streaks glowing in the moonlight. Ryder sighed and ran after her. Well, this would be interesting.

* * *

I feel a tiny bit insecure with this chapter, so please, if you think it needs some kind of improvement, let me know, just don't be mean about it! Thanks again for reading! :)


	10. IX Percy

**IX**

**PERCY**

It took us close to two hours of walking, in total awkward silence, to finally see houses. The street we travelled on went from pitch black to soft light because of the street lights. We were finally able to walk on a sidewalk and out of the way of all the passing cars. Panda had taken her distance from Ryder from the beginning, clearly still bothered by the fact he was coming with us, which left me in the middle. Panda had her hair loose now and her cardigan rolled up to her elbows. She sniffled every once and while, probably because of the chilly air, and every time she did Ryder glanced at her.

Once, she tripped over a branch. Ryder and I had both grabbed her instinctively and she shoved us off, saying she could very well take care of herself. Ryder seemed like a nice guy, though I still didn't know him well. He seemed to genuinely care for Panda. I could see it in his eyes.

Then, I thought about Panda. I looked at her, at all the similarities between us; the hair (besides the blue streaks), the deep green eyes, the tan skin. She was simply the female version of me and vice versa. Maybe it was true. Maybe she was my twin, but why would I not remember her? Why couldn't I remember a single thing about her? I remembered the story she told me at the stables, about the macaw. I could remember that day. The macaw was bigger than my head, and its talons had left little marks on my shoulder and mom and put a little care bears band-aid on my ear, but I couldn't remember Panda ever being there. I glanced at my watch and it was only 9:33 PM.

"We can stop here," Panda said, pointing at a parking lot with a small strip mall. There was a UPS store, a spa, an organic store, a Salvatore's Pizzeria and a Cleaners.

"We can get some food. They should have a phone. I can call for a taxi," she added. We walked inside the Pizzeria and a little bell went off as we opened the door. The room was softly lit with deep orange walls. Square, green granite tables were placed around in chaotic order with four red wooden chairs. The smell of pizza lingered through the restaurant. There weren't many people, though. There was one fat guy on the farthest corner eating a pizza with all kinds of meat on it as he watched sports on the television. A couple flirted with each other on the other side, feeding each other olives.

We picked a table and sat down. Panda rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a black wallet. She pulled out twenty bucks.

"Cheese or peperoni?" she asked, as she hid the wallet back into her backpack. Ryder shrugged.

"Peperoni," I said. She stood up and as she passed behind my chair, she ruffled up my hair. She walked over to the empty counter and hit a little bell. From the back, a very tall and a very fat guy waddled out. He wore a chef's hat, a very dirty white tank, long khaki pants with a white apron tied to his waist. He had thick arched eyebrows and a very pointy nose. I couldn't hear what Panda was telling him, but I saw her hand him the twenty. He gave her back her change and then opened up a little door on the other side of the counter and she walked inside. I didn't know why, but I didn't like it. Ryder suddenly tensed and sat up.

"I don't like this," he said, staring intently into the kitchen. Before I could say anything, Ryder stood up, jumped over the counter and ran into the kitchen. Great. We've got a Jackie Chan on our team. I followed behind him and I found him standing in the very back alone, holding on to a phone. He looked at me.

"She's not here," he said. Then I realized what was going on. I looked around, trying to find any clues when I saw something green sliding out from under a door. I slowly walked towards it and I heard a big _clang!_ I kicked the wooden door open and I saw Panda standing in the corner, with her trident in hand (except it was about two feet long, instead of five) and covered in green slime. A giant figure was melting away and left nothing but a pair of ripped chef's clothes.

"We've got to get out of here! They're coming!" she yelled, as she grabbed my arm and pulled me outside the Pizzeria.

"What happened?!" I asked her, as we ran down Shore Road.

"Monster! Grabbed me when I was talking to the taxi company. He said they'll be coming after us. What? I don't know, but I'm guessing we'll find out soon," she said.

"So, where are we heading now?" Ryder asked, as he caught up to us.

"Just away from here," Panda answered, as she shrunk her trident and clipped it back onto her necklace. I have to admit, it seemed to be one pretty cool and dangerous weapon. We ran for about twenty minutes, when Panda slowed down and stopped. She was panting and tired.

"Are you hurt?" I asked, as I pulled out one of my shirts and started wiping off all the green gunk off of her.

"I'm fine," she answered, as she put her hand over her other arm. She seemed protective as she covered her arm, so I grew suspicious.

"Let me see," I said. She looked at me "confused". "Let me see," I said again, pointing at her right arm. She sighed and revealed a gash across her bicep.

"It's nothing," she said.

"Like hell it's nothing," Ryder mumbled as he knelt next to her. She shot him a death glare. I pulled out a bottle of nectar and poured a little bit over her gash. She winced, but didn't say anything. She bit her lip as I wrapped her arm with some bandages.

"You could've been killed," Ryder said, as he sat down on the curb next to her.

"Then that makes me human," she shot back. Ryder looked a little taken aback, but he didn't say anything else.

"Panda, I'm not sure this was a good idea," I said, as I finished off her bandage. I understood she wanted to find her answers, but we had no idea what was going. All we had to go on were two words that made no sense.

"Percy, I have to do this. It's all I have to figure out what happened to me," she said.

"Then at least tell me what it is," I said. She took a deep breath and started.

"After you told me about your dream, I did a little research, which didn't take too long. Marmes Rockshelter is an old excavation site in Washington State. I don't know why, but I think there was something buried there," she said, rubbing her hurt arm.

"Washington _State_?" Ryder said surprised. "That's on the other side of the United States! How do you expect us to get there?" Panda smiled.

"One word: Amtrak."

* * *

I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Since it's getting a little more detailed, I can't promise I'll be uploading as quickly (due to research and such), but I will try my best to not take TOO long ;)


	11. X Panda

**X**

**PANDA**

Suffice to say, I wasn't very happy. I had told Ryder not to come with me, but he insisted and ended up coming anyways. I had the smell of rotten cheese stuck in my nostrils when that disgusting chef guy grabbed me from behind and pulled me into another room to chop me up into a million pieces. As soon as the door had closed, he transformed into a terrible demon that I recognized as Eurynomos. He had bleach white pointy teeth, with the darkest blue complexion ever and the nastiest smell hanging on him, since he likes to eat human (or demigod) flesh.

He managed to get in a swipe with his butcher knife until I pulled out Planaxis and slashed at him, covering myself in his disgusting green blood. Before he had turned into ashes and melted into the floor he had breathed five words: _He'll be coming for you. _That had rocked my nerves, but I had regained myself enough to run as far away as my hurting body could manage. Percy had patched up my gash and I had told him and Ryder about where we were heading.

Since it would take us another several hours to get the Amtrak station, I stopped at a public telephone. I fished for some quarters, flipped through the telephone book and dialed the number for the nearest taxi company, since Eurynomos had interrupted my last phone call. The phone rang.

_Taxi Galore is open from 6 AM to 9 PM. If you would like to leave a message, please wait for the beep._

I sighed and hung up. I turned to Percy and Ryder.

"They're closed. We'll have to find a place to stay for now until the open again," I frowned.

"We didn't even get our pizza," Percy pouted.

"Well, I think the woods are the safest place right now," Ryder said. Percy nodded in agreement. We stood in front of a Wells Fargo Bank that was placed in front of a tiny stretch of forest. We grabbed our bags and walked around the bank into a tiny clearing of trees and water. We picked the driest spot and set our stuff down.

"I'm gonna go and clean up," I said and left for the inlet. I pulled up spouts of water and rubbed off all the green gunk. I took my pants off and rinsed them until they looked good as new. I then slipped them back on and began cleaning my shirt. I was just drying it off when I heard a soft rustle. I quickly put my shirt on and put my hand on my necklace. Out of the shadows a figure emerged, but I was relieved when I realized it was just Ryder.

"Don't scare me like that," I said.

"Sorry," he said, raising his hands up. "Didn't mean to."

I turned back and started washing my boots. He walked over until he was standing next to me.

"Did you need to tell me something?" I asked, as I slipped my boots back on. I stood up to meet his brown eyes. They sparkled in the moonlight and they honestly did look beautiful, but I ignored it. Sure, he was handsome, but I had had bad experiences with guys in the past. I didn't want to make the same mistake again.

"I just wanted to make sure you're okay," he said, as he slid his fingers through his messy hair.

"I'm fine," I said, adding a smile to my lie. The truth is… I wasn't fine. I had too many things hanging on my shoulders, but that didn't mean I had to place it all on Ryder's as well. He took a step closer to me, until his face was only a few inches away from mine. He stared in my eyes and I couldn't help but melt in his gaze. _No Panda, not again_ I scolded myself.

"I know you're not," he said softly as he put his hands on my shoulders. I was about to give in when I brought myself to reality.

"I am," I said, as I moved his hands off my shoulders and took a step back. Ryder frowned.

"Panda come on, I know something's wrong," he said. I started to get frustrated and kind of angry. I appreciated the fact he was concerned for me, but I hated when people tried to break through my walls.

"You don't know me," I shot back, but as soon as I said it, I felt bad. Here I was again, treating him like crap when all he was doing was trying to be a friend.

"Then, let's get to know each other," he said, as he walked to a space that had no grass and sat on the dirt. He patted the space next to him for me to sit down. I thought about it twice, but I sat down anyways.

"I'm Ryder," he said, extending his hand. I couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm Panda," I said, playing along. I shook his hand and smiled. It felt nice that amidst all the problems, Ryder still had a sense of humor, which not everyone had.

"So Panda, who's your godly parent?" he said in a very therapist-like voice. I rolled my eyes.

"Poseidon," I said. As I said it, a little wave pulled up about a foot away from our feet. _Yes dad_ I thought.

"What's yours?" I asked. A sudden shadow fell over his face, but as soon as it appeared, it disappeared.

"Unclaimed," he said.

"Oh. Sorry," I said. He shrugged. I felt bad for him. I knew how it felt to be unclaimed and it felt like your parent had abandoned you. Forgotten about you and left you out in the cold. I wanted to comfort him, but I wasn't sure what I could say to make him feel better.

"No biggie," he said, and then he flashed me a smile. His smile was dazzling. It looked almost angelic.

"So, what are you planning on doing when we get to Washington?" he asked, as he pulled up his legs and threw his arms over his knees. I thought about the question and I wasn't sure what to answer, because I honestly didn't know myself.

"I don't really know," I said, as I gazed across the inlet.

* * *

So, there wasn't much going on in this chapter, but I promise you there'll be more action in it. Plus, almost everything I mention in my story from now on is real! So, you can google it if you wanted to :D

A shout out to **Percy Waterblue **and **ShimmeringDaisyFace **for following my story and reviewing it every step of the way! You guys really encourage me to keep writing! :)


	12. XI Panda

**XI**

**PANDA**

The moonlight reflected off the water and created beautiful shadows on the trees. You could hear boats in the distance, as they left or arrived at the marina. I looked at my watch; 10:53 PM.

"I think we should head back. Percy's probably wondering what's happened to us," I said, breaking the silence that had fallen between us. Ryder was staring at the stars when I spoke.

"Yeah," he said, turning his gaze on me. We stood up and marched through the tall grass to see Percy sleeping with his head on his duffel bag. Ryder lay down and pulled his hoodie over his head. I decided I couldn't be too close to him, so I lay down on the other side of Percy, who was drooling. I looked up at the sky, staring at the twinkling stars until I fell asleep.

I was standing on a mountain in the middle of nowhere. I was on the tallest peak, on the tallest mountain, looking down on a passing river. I was confused. I tried to move, but I couldn't get my feet to respond. I grunted as I fought to move, but it got me nowhere. Suddenly, the river lurched upward. Hundreds of gallons swirled up and spun like a giant cyclone, leaving the riverbed exposed. Wind blew, so hard, that if I wasn't stuck, it would've thrown me off my feet. The cyclone and the wind seemed to battle each other; the wind ripping holes through the cyclone and cyclone whipping around like a flower in a tornado.

Suddenly, I felt something grip me, constricting me and lifted me off the mountain. I screamed as it shook me back and forth. My whole body started shaking.

"Panda! Panda!" a voice yelled. I jumped up and hit my head so hard, I fell back with a grunt as I rubbed my forehead.

"Ouch!" the voice that had been screaming my name said. I opened my eyes to see Percy rubbing his forehead as well. When it dawned on me what had happened, I started laughing.

"I'm sorry," I laughed, as I crawled over to Percy.

"Yeah, you sound so sincere," he said sarcastically, before he started laughing too. Ryder moaned and woke up, rubbing his eyes.

"What happened?" he mumbled.

"Nothing," I laughed, before Percy and I stood up. I looked at my watch; 7:26 AM. Ryder slumped down again and started snoring.

"Come on sleepy head, it's time we get moving," I said, kicking his foot.

"Five more minutes," he mumbled.

"Percy, do you think you can get him up while I go get us a taxi?" I said, as I grabbed my backpack and slung it over my shoulder. Percy laughed and nodded. I walked around the bank and onto the sidewalk. I walked to the public telephone and arranged for a taxi to pick us up. I sat on the curb and waited for Ryder and Percy to come around.

Two minutes later, they came around the corner of the bank and sat down next to me.

"How long are we waiting?" Percy asked.

"Ten, fifteen, twenty tops," I said with a shrug. Fifteen minutes later, a taxi pulled up in front of us. We jumped in. The taxi smelled of cigarettes and the guy who drove the car was in stained clothes and barely had any hair on his head, except for some strands combed over.

"Pennsylvania Station maps?hl=en&tab=wl - # New York, NY 10001," I said. The taxi guy nodded, and slammed on the gas. We sat in silence; Percy on the left side, Ryder on the right, which left me in the middle. I started shaking my leg. It's already been half an hour and I was getting bored. I was about to start conversation when the car jerked, making my face meet the armrest of the front seat.

The car started to move, in an unnatural direction, while the taxi driver cursed every word in the English dictionary. I looked out the window, and I could see the tops of houses and buildings. That was _not _good. I heard a loud screech, so loud everyone covered their ears.

"WHAT IS THAT?" I yelled, glancing at Percy.

"I DON'T KNOW!" Percy yelled back. Ryder rolled down his window and stuck his head out. His eyes widened. He yelled something, but I couldn't hear him, because there was another piercing screech. Then, we were in free fall. My stomach was in my throat as we hurtled downwards. We slammed against the ground with a terrible _crunch!_

The wheels flew off and the car spun in circles. It was a good thing we had our seatbelts on. We all screamed as the car did a few rolls and shuddered to a stop. I was panting, and I had blood dripping down from my nose and forehead. I ripped my seatbelt off and we all scrambled out of the broken car. Percy and Ryder didn't look any better than I did. Percy's left ear was bleeding and his hair had a piece of metal in it. Ryder had blood dripping down from his shoulder. The taxi cab driver had scrambled out of the cab and was already a hundred feet down the road and running hard.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" I yelled, looking around.

"GRYPHON!" Ryder yelled, as he pointed upward. The Gryphon was huge and majestic. He had the head, wings and the front talons of an eagle with the body of a lion. He looked powerful and dangerous. He swooped down and I hit the ground, covering my head with my arms. The gryphon flew upwards again and circled over us.

"How are we going to fight this?!" Percy yelled, over the noise of the cars. He held Riptide in his hand and kept his eyes firmly on the gryphon as it flew above.

"I don't know! I've never fought one before!" I yelled back. Percy glared at me.

"We've got to ground it, so we've got a fighting chance!" Ryder said.

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Percy asked sarcastically.

"I haven't figured that part out yet!" Ryder yelled back. Percy took a deep breath, and looked at the Gryphon, which was giving us the evil eye.

"I've got an idea, but we've got to get it down here," Percy said. "Ryder, I need you to taunt it, get it to swoop down here. Panda, come with me. We're going to ground this thing."

Ryder nodded and he started yelling and throwing rocks. I pulled out Planaxis and willed it to grow to full size, until I held a six foot, red and black, trident in hand.

"Okay, you stand there, while I stand over there. When the gryphon swoops down, we'll cut his wings," Percy said, pointing to the spot he would be positioned at. I nodded and ran to the other side of the street. Suddenly, the gryphon nose-dived. Ryder jumped to the side and hit the ground while Percy and I lifted our weapons. The gryphon realized what was going on too late. As he flew by, Planaxis plunged into his wing and he screeched so loud, it made my bones vibrate. He flapped his wings and I realized too late my trident was stuck. The gryphon flew upwards and pulled me along with it.

"PANDA!" I heard Percy and Ryder yell as I was pulled by the gryphon. Luckily, his wings were too badly damaged to fly properly. I gripped Planaxis tighter as the gryphon spiraled downwards. We hit the ground and I was thrown in the air. I slammed against a building and crumpled to the floor. Ryder and Percy appeared next to me.

"Panda! Are you okay?" Ryder asked, as he lifted me up. I felt a sharp pain in arm as Ryder lifted me up.

"I'm okay, but I think we have bigger problems!" I said, as I pointed at the gryphon. He had already recovered enough from his fall to stand up. He shook his head and stumbled sideways, but quickly regained his balance. Now, he was coming for us. Ryder pulled out a dagger from under his jeans and positioned me against the wall. Percy stood up and spun Riptide in his hand as the gryphon approached. The gryphon swiped at him as he jumped to the side and slashed at the its forearm. The gryphon screamed and snapped at Percy with its huge beak. Percy rolled out of harm's way, but the gryphon kept on him.

Ryder ran towards the gryphon and jabbed his dagger into its front talon. The gryphon stumbled back, knocking Ryder off his feet. He skidded a few feet before standing up again. Suddenly, the gryphon got hit in the face with a mouthful of water as Percy made a fire hydrant burst. The gryphon swung his foot and hit Percy, knocking him against another building so hard, there was a crack in the cement where he'd been slammed against. I realized then that Percy wasn't moving. He was unconscious. I had to do something, before Percy became gryphon food. I used Planaxis as support as I lifted myself up, pain shooting up my arm. I looked for a way to stop this gryphon for good and I found it in the building next to me. I ran inside and up the stairs against the will of some people who worked in the building. After a few flights of stairs, I plunged Planaxis into a lock, breaking it open and I found myself on the rooftop.

I looked over the railing and I could see the gryphon's exposed back as it spun around to take a swipe at Ryder.

"Here goes nothing," I whispered as I threw my legs over the railing and stood on the little ledge. With a battle cry, I jumped. As I landed on the gryphon's back, I plunged Planaxis as hard as possible into its head. The gryphon screamed and its body crumpled to the floor, going limp. I stumbled and rolled down its body and onto the floor. Ryder pulled me out of the way, as one of its wings collapsed where I had been just a second before. Ryder stopped and sat down, holding my tired body in his arms. I could hear his heavy breathing, as well as mine. The gryphon slowly disintegrated and turned to golden ash. A small breeze wafted through, carrying all the golden ashes with it.

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I'm actually pretty proud of this chapter :) Please review and give me your thoughts! Promise I'll give them back! ;D


	13. XII Percy

**XII**

**PERCY**

I opened my eyes to see Panda hovering over me.

"He's alive!" Panda laughed as she helped me up. As soon as I sat up, I felt dizzy and I had the worst headache imaginable. I moaned as my brain throbbed. Panda fed me a piece of ambrosia, and I started to feel better.

"What happened?" I asked groggily as my headache started to fade. I looked around. When I remembered the gryphon, I reached for my sword, but Panda stopped me.

"It's okay. It's gone," she said softly. She grabbed Riptide and capped it. "We're good… for now," she said with a smile as she handed me the pen. Ryder stood behind her, holding a map in his hands.

"Come on," Panda said, as she used her hand to help me up. When I could see her better, she wasn't wearing her cardigan anymore and she had a little piece of wood bandaged to her arm.

"When the gryphon threw me off, it broke my arm. Ryder gave me a temporary splint so it heals right," Panda said when she noticed I was looking at it.

"Oh," I said stupidly. I massaged my head as we walked over to Ryder as he squinted at the map.

"That street," Ryder said, pointing at the street right ahead of us, "is 2nd Avenue. We walk down that road a little, make a right on E 34th St, walk down that road for a while, take a left on Fashion Avenue, and we reach the train station," Ryder said, as he turned the map around to give us the lefts and rights.

"Sounds good," Panda said.

"Sounds like a long walk," I added, wiping the blood off of my ear.

"Well, considering what just happened, I don't feel like taking another taxi cab," Ryder said, looking at me. I was about to retort when Panda interjected.

"Maybe we should get some food!"

At the word "food" my stomach rumbled. Panda stifled a laugh.

"I'm guessing that's a yes," she chuckled. I smiled and shrugged.

"Hey, I haven't eaten since yesterday. I'm bound to get hungry." We grabbed our bags from the burning the taxi cab and started walking, covering our faces as police and ambulances arrived on the scene.

It took us almost half an hour to reach the station. Half way there, Panda had ripped off her temporary splint. Her arm was still black and blue, but she insisted she didn't need it anymore. When we got there, people were walking in and out the door like maniacs.

"Hey, look, there's hot dog stand. Want some?" Panda said, nudging me with her elbow.

"Yes please!" I said. We walked over to the hot dog stand and ordered our food. The guy whipped them up quickly, putting melted cheese on Panda's, cheese and olives on Ryder's and ketchup and mustard on mine. We sat on some benches as we munched on our hot dogs. Panda was the first to finish hers.

"I'll go get our tickets," she said, as she grabbed her backpack. "Be back soon," she said, as she turned and walked inside Penn Station, leaving me in awkward silence with Ryder. I cleared my throat.

"So…" I said, taking another bite of my hotdog. Ryder looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah?" he said, as he wiped cheese off his face with a napkin and took a sip of his soda. I had suspected for a while that there might be something going on between him and Panda, but they were leaving me in the dark. So, now that I was alone with Ryder, I decided to ask him myself. I mean, what's the worse that could happen?

"So… you like my sister?" I asked. Ryder choked on his soda. I wanted to laugh, but I bit my lip to stop myself.

"Um… _what?_" he said, wiping soda off his face. I shrugged. I wanted to take a picture of his face, because he looked genuinely panicked. I remembered all the times I got nervous when it came to girls. Ryder might seem like a fearless badass, but when it came to girls, any badass would stutter like an idiot.

"I don't know. It seems like you like her, but I could be mistaken," I said nonchalantly with a shrug.

"I— no," he laughed nervously. "We're just friends," he said, taking the biggest bite of his hotdog I'd ever seen anyone take. I was about to say something that would probably embarrass him further, but Panda called us.

"Hey guys! Train leaves in about twenty minutes! We gotta hurry!" she yelled from the entrance, waving three white tickets in her hand. We got up and walked into Penn Station. Talk about _big_. I realized then, I'd never really been inside Penn Station. I'd always taken buses or taxi cabs, but wow. I was dumbstruck.

"This is huge," I breathed, as I stared up at the vaulted ceiling.

"This way," Panda said, as she walked to the left, into a hallway. People with suitcases walked around, mostly talking on cell phones or sitting around with their noses stuck in their laptops. If people weren't so stuck into the cyber world, they might actually see some pretty cool things. _Like gryphons if they weren't trying to kill you_ I thought. We sat on some benches, and waited for our train to arrive. The whole time, Panda was shaking her leg, also moving the entire bench.

"Do you ever stop shaking?" I chuckled, as I put my hand on her knee to stop her from shaking. She smiled sheepishly.

"Um, habit," she said. I pulled my hand away and a second later, she started shaking her leg again. I rolled my eyes. A few minutes later, there was a loud screech and a train halted to a stop in front of us. The doors slid open, and everyone piled inside. This train was different from any others I'd taken before. There were little rooms, some with just chairs, others with foldable beds. There was a bar, a little restaurant and apparently wifi, since there were a bunch of people with laptops.

"Come on," Panda said, as she guided us to a room down a little hallway. She slid a door open, and there was only a tiny room with bench seats that fold out into beds.

Panda sat down. I sat down next to her and Ryder sat across from us.

"How long is this ride gonna be?" Ryder asked, as he studied the bloody sleeve of his jacket.

"Couple days," Panda shrugged. "You should probably clean up," she said, looking at his sleeve. He pursed his lips.

"Then I will be right back," he said, as he stood up and left to look for a bathroom. Panda stared outside the window, though there wasn't much to look at, since we hadn't left yet. She slowly rubbed her once-broken arm.

"You okay?" I asked. She turned her green eyes towards me. Her trident charm was a very bright gold.

"I'm fine," she said, as she quickly covered her trident with her hand. That's when I really started wondering. I'd seen her weapon and what she could do with it, but it was always changing colors. I'd never seen a weapon that did that, so the curiosity was eating at me.

"What is that?" I asked, pointing at her charm.

"Planaxis," she said. I guessed that was the name of her trident. The same way, my weapon was Riptide and not "just a sword".

"Why does it change colors?" I asked. She hesitated, like she wasn't sure if she should tell me or not.

"It changes with my mood," she said, as she passed her finger over her golden trident.

"What does gold stand for?" I asked. I figured if I knew what the colors meant, it could help me understand her better. I mean, I had a feeling she would be around for a long time and I thought understanding the colors would make it easier on me. She bit her lip.

"Mixed feelings…" she said sheepishly and she quickly looked away. So I started wondering what could possibly be going through her mind right now. I wanted to ask her about the other colors I'd seen; red, black and blue (to name a few), but Ryder walked back in. He'd taken his jacket off, so he was just in a black t-shirt now. He sat down, setting his jacket beside him.

"The bathrooms here are _nice_," he said, messing up his hair more. There was a quick announcement on the speakers about safety and the specials in the restaurant and the train took off. We spent the rest of the day playing cards, eating, charades, telling jokes, eating, doing magic tricks and um… eating.

Once it was nightfall, we opened up our bench seats. Ryder chose the top bunk and climbed up. Panda chose the left bunk, so that left me with the right bunk, under Ryder.

"Goodnight guys, and please, don't hesitate to not wake me up," he said followed by a sleepy yawn.

"Night guys," Panda said, as she turned around to sleep, so her back was facing me.

"Night," I said back, as I lay on my back, put my arms under my head and stared at the bunk above me. I started to think about the gryphon and a wave of heat fell down my body. Out of all the monsters I'd ever fought since I was twelve, I'd never even seen a gryphon. I took it as a really bad omen. If some god or goddess was after us, I suspected they were coming for us with a wrath. I turned around, and I could hear Ryder snoring. I looked across the cabin towards Panda. For some reason, I had a feeling she wasn't sleeping. She moved and she exposed a little piece of her hip, but what I saw was odd. There was something white protruding from her shirt. I stood up and kneeled next to her bed. I touched the white spot and Panda jumped. She looked at me surprised.

"What are you doing?" she asked, as she furiously fixed her shirt.

"What is that?" I asked her. She gave me a confused look.

"What's what?" she said, but I knew very well she knew what I was talking about.

"You know what I mean," I said, as I stood up. She looked down as she played with the cheap blankets they'd given us for the night.

"It's nothing," she said, moving her hair out of her face. I narrowed my eyes at her and she sighed.

"It's just a scar," she said. But from what I saw, it wasn't just a scar. It was something more.

"Let me see," I said. For some reason, I felt like I had to, like there was something important about it. She sighed. She turned around and lifted her shirt to reveal a giant white scar that ranged from her left hip to her right shoulder.

"What happened?!" I asked in shock.

"Just a monster," she mumbled as she put her shirt down again, but I didn't believe her. Suddenly, it felt like my head burst. I stumbled back and fell into my bed as a tsunami of memories flooded over me. I remembered Panda in the zoo with the macaw. I remembered her fighting with me in the Titan war, how she got her name, _who she was._ She was my sister. She _is_ my twin sister.

Panda stood up quickly and walked over to me.

"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly. I looked at her and I didn't see a stranger anymore. I saw Panda, my twin sister. Without saying anything, I embraced her. She returned my hug. I pulled away to look at her.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. She looked at me confused.

"What are you talking about?" I hugged her again.

"I'm so sorry I forgot you," I whispered into her ear.

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I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I know not much happened here, but well, I hope you guys enjoyed it either way. Remember, review and don't hesitate to give me your thoughts, just don't be mean about it. Thanks!


	14. XIII Percy

**XIII**

**PERCY**

"Oh my gods, you remember me?!" Panda squealed, as she looked me in the eyes to make sure I wasn't lying.

"Yeah," I smiled. She raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Okay, as a test you must answer this question," she said. I gulped. What if that was one of those few things I didn't know?

"What did I get for my fifteenth birthday?" she asked. I sighed in relief. That was easy. I mean, since mom had been working, she had made me take her.

"Your second ear piercing," I answered confidently. She squealed and hugged me. I was happy too, but it suddenly faded when I remembered her scar.

"Panda…" I said, pulling her away from me. I didn't want to bring it up again, but some of my memories were still a little fuzzy and the one thing I do remember about it, I didn't like. Her smile faded when she saw my expression.

"Your scar… that wasn't a monster, was it?" I asked. She looked away.

"Percy, don't," she said softly as she stood up and sat on her bed. I leaned forward.

"It wasn't a monster," I said. She bit her lip. "It was Nico," I said. What I said shocked even myself.

"Percy, don't. It was an honest mistake," she said, a sadness in her eyes.

"A mistake?" I echoed.

"It was dark, it was raining and we were in a middle of a fight. You should know what that's like," she said as she crossed her arms. I closed my eyes and tried to remember that night and a vision crossed my eyes.

I was standing on the hill of Camp Half Blood. It was dark and I could hear screams and roars and metal clashing together. It was pouring down hard. I saw Annabeth, Panda and Nico. They were surrounded by an army of Kobalos. They were little creatures, probably as tall us my shoulder. They had green slimy skin and pointy white teeth. They had elfish ears and cackled like crazy hyenas. They had long nails and they slashed at them with pretty surprising speed. Annabeth had her knife. She stabbed the Kobalos left and right, but they kept coming. Panda was spinning her trident, cutting any Kobaloi in close proximity so hard, they disintegrated on the spot. Nico swung his Stygian sword, cutting off their heads. He moved with amazing speed. Panda moved her trident and accidentally touched Nico's back. In the heat of battle, he spun and slashed. I screamed as Panda crumpled to the floor. Her shirt was ripped open and she had a wide, bloody gash on her exposed back. She howled in pain.

"PANDA!" Annabeth screamed as she stabbed a Kaboloi and ran to Panda's aid. Nico stood there, staring in horror at what he'd done. He stumbled backwards, dropping his sword. The Kobalos advance, taking their chance.

"NICO! SNAP OUT OF IT!" she yelled, as she cradled Panda in her arms. Nico blinked and finally realized what was going on. He opened up the earth behind him and an army of skeletons, about thirty or so, jumped out, weapons ready. The Kobalos took one glance and left running. The skeletons nodded like their work there was done and melted back into the earth. Annabeth pulled out a bottle of nectar and poured some on Panda's back, but as soon as the nectar touched her skin she screamed in pain. Nico looked like he was about to break down and go insane.

"Nico, I know you didn't mean to, but you need to get over it and help me get Panda to the infirmary," Annabeth said surprisingly calm. She always had a way to talk to people. Nico, hands shaking, helped Annabeth pick up Panda's shivering body and took her inside. I had seen the whole thing. I saw it, and I wanted to stop it, but it had all happened way too fast. As they made their way up the hill, I ran towards them, and grabbed Panda's hand. Her breathing was heavy and her eyes were closed. She would arch her back every once in a while in pain.

I opened my eyes again, and I saw Panda sitting on her bed, like she was also lost in the memories.

"It could've happened to any of us," she whispered as she stared blankly at the floor.

"I could've stopped it," I said. I wanted to smack myself so hard. I had arrived too late. As soon as I had come over the hill, I had seen Nico cut her. I wasn't sure what had happened, but I wasn't happy. Nico could barely form words the rest of the night. He hadn't left Panda's side for days; staying in the infirmary day and night. After I could finally forgive him, I felt bad for him.

"Percy, it's in the past. No need to bring it up again," she said annoyingly, as she snapped out of her trance. She looked at me. "Let's get some sleep," she said as she slumped into her bed and pulled the blanket over her head.

I didn't sleep very well after that. I kept having nightmares about that dreadful night; seeing Panda so close to the edge of death. My heart broke, even now, knowing I could've lost her forever.

The next morning, everyone woke up later than usual. Probably because we were "safe" on the train and there was no need to be up so early. It was around 11 o'clock when I had finally woken up. Panda was already up, brushing her hair in the little mirror in the cabin. She pulled her hair to one side, twisting it into a braid, then running her fingers through it to pull it apart and starting again. She frowned in the mirror, clearly bored.

"Morning," I said, as I got up. She turned around.

"One of the zombie's is alive! Finally, I was downright bored," she said, throwing herself on the bed. I laughed as I tucked my bed back into a bench seat.

"I tried waking Ryder, but he mumbled something about tiaras and kept snoring," Panda said, as she twisted the end of her cardigan around her fingers. "Wanna get something to eat?" she asked.

"Sure," I said, as quickly tried fixing my hair, which didn't help much. Panda stood up, and quickly put folded her little bed into its original form.

"Awesome, let's go," she said, grabbing some money from her bag and sticking it into her pocket. She started out the door.

"What about Ryder?" I asked. She shrugged.

"He'll probably still be asleep when we get back," she chuckled. I followed her down the hall and up a little staircase. When we reached the top, it opened up into a giant dome the entire length of train cart.

"Nice," I said, as we sat at a table. I gazed as we passed trees and lakes and rivers. The sun was shining down through the glass and glinting off all the silverware. Panda smirked. She called over a waiter and he took our orders. About twenty minutes later, the skinny and tall waiter brought our food. Panda had ordered a pair of fried eggs with toast, bacon and a bowl of macaroni and cheese, while I got scrambled eggs, hash browns and bacon.

We chatted about everything you can think of. She kept asking me trivial questions, trying to make sure I did remember her. Half way through our breakfast, I could hear a little Chihuahua barking. At first, I ignored, but after a while it got really annoying. I turned around to ask whoever the Chihuahua belonged to, to shut it up. I turned to see a fat lady sitting about two tables away. She wore a yellow and orange flower-print sundress and a big, delicate straw hat with the same colored bandana wrapped around it. I took a double-take, because there was something familiar about her. Her teeth weren't pretty and her beady eyes weren't appealing either.

I got a tingle down my spine when I realized who this person might be. Before, I probably would've ignored it, thinking it was just another fat lady, but something told me I shouldn't now. I touched Panda's hand. She was busy stuffing yolk-covered toast into her mouth when she looked up.

"Panda, let's go," I said, as the little Chihuahua, that was standing at the fat lady's feet kept barking.

"I'm not done yet," she complained, as she took another bite. I took a closer look at the Chihuahua, who was wearing a rhinestone collar. I knew exactly who this person was. The lady bent down and petted the top of her Chihuahua's head.

"Be quite, sonny," she said sweetly and turned her beady eyes at us. That was the dead giveaway.

"Panda, RUN!" I said, as I grabbed her hand and started running. She didn't hesitate. She jumped up and followed me, but it was too late. Echidna blocked our way to the staircase. She looked up at us.

"Miss me son?" she said in a sweet, but dangerous voice. I felt a hot breeze down my neck. I turned around to see my dear old friend, Chimera towering over me.

"DUCK!" I yelled, as Panda and I rolled to opposite sides as the lion head breathed fire. The people who had been in the dome before were now screaming in terror and running around like ants. The Chimera spun and lifted its head, but that was too far, because he broke through the dome glass and the dome shattered all around us. I covered my head with my arms as big shards of glass fell. I got some minor scrapes, but I was fine. I pulled out Riptide and instinctively swung for the snake head that was facing my direction. The snake pulled up, inches out of my strike.

The lion head was facing Panda. The lion breathed fire along the entire cart, as Panda ran just ahead of the flames. The lion swiped at her and threw her across the dome. Echidna cackled, her chubby sides wiggling in glee. Panda stood up quickly and pulled out Planaxis. I looked back at the snake that seemed to be grinning at me. Kind of creepily actually.

He tried to bite me, but I jumped out of the way; barely making it. The snake bit into a table that was behind me and its giant fangs got stuck. It tried to pull away, but not fast enough. I slashed and cut its head off. Its body flailed in every direction, spewing acidic blood all over me. Ew. The Chimera howled in pain, but it was too busy playing tag with Panda to bother with me. Echidna screamed as she stared in horror at her dear Chimera's severed serpent tail.

I turned to see Panda be engulfed by flames. At first, I panicked, but then I realized what was going on. She had pulled out water from all the glasses and jugs and created a little protective shield in front of her. The flames extinguished as it touched the water. She held her arms in front of her, as she held the shield. The flames stopped and she dropped the water. She was clearly tired. The lion went to take a bite, but she ducked and rolled under the Chimera. The Chimera seemed confused. He lifted his head and looked around. Panda jabbed Planaxis into its belly, but didn't do much damage. The Chimera jumped and slammed its leg into Panda. She skidded across the floor. I ran towards the Chimera and stood in front of her. I deflected a bite, by slashing at its nose. He staggered back and shook his head. He looked cross-eyed at his bleeding nose and than real anger entered his eyes. Panda stood up, but stumbled. She must've really gotten hit hard by the Chimera.

I looked for an opening. Somewhere to give a fatal blow, but I couldn't see anything. The Chimera lifted its head to prepare for another flamethrower breath. And I found my chance. When he moved his head, a tiny piece of his neck was exposed. I ran and jumped, slicing his throat open. Blood squirted everywhere as the Chimera stumbled backwards and then fell to the floor, gasping for air.

"MY BABY!" Echidna screamed, as she ran to her son's side. She stroked his matted mane and gave us the death glare. She snapped her fingers, and they disappeared into a sickly green cloud and left us standing in the middle of a broken dome.

* * *

Hopefully, this chapter came out well. Like always, please give me your thoughts!

Shout out to **Percy Waterblue** for still reviewing my story! Thanks! And to a guest, ;)


	15. XIV Panda

**XIV**

**PANDA**

Now, I was really getting pissed. I stood in the dome with Percy. We both looked pretty banged up, but it was nothing a little ambrosia couldn't fix.

"You okay?" Percy asked, as he studied me from top to bottom.

"I'm fine," I said. "Let's just get out of here," I said impatiently. Percy didn't argue. We ran down the stairs and hid inside our little cabin. Ryder had finally woken up. He eyed us suspiciously as we ran in and slammed the door shut.

"What happened to you guys?" he asked, as I sat down and wiped the sweat off my face.

"Monster," Percy and I said in unison. Ryder seemed surprised and yet not at the same time. Without asking, he pulled out a square of ambrosia, broke it in half and gave us both a piece. I swallowed it and it quickly fixed my little cuts and bruises. Before anyone said anything else, an announcement came on the air talking about Cleveland and a two hour wait. We weren't even half way there yet. I sighed and let my head fall against the wall and closed my eyes. After two hours, the train took off again.

"This is going to take forever!" I complained. Ryder put his hand on my shoulder.

"Relax, we'll get there," he said. I smiled.

"Yeah, next year," I said jokingly. A few minutes later, I had fallen asleep. I guess the attack had tired me out.

Suddenly, I was in the air. I screamed when I looked down because I was thousands of feet up. I was staring down at the Earth as it loomed under me. I looked around, rocking back and forth as I moved; trying to figure out what was going on.

"You shouldn't have messed with history," a voice echoed through the skies. I looked around frantically, trying to find the person who had said that, but I saw nothing. I looked down again.

"Oh gods," I whispered. I didn't know what was going on, but I didn't like it.

"I don't know who you are!" I yelled into the sky. "Please! Just let me go!" That was the wrong thing to say. I fell through the sky, screaming at the top of my lungs. Right before I hit the ground, I woke up. I accidentally smacked Ryder in the face.

"Ow!" he said, as he rubbed his nose. Percy snickered.

"I am so sorry," I said sheepishly. "I guess I've been doing that a lot lately," I said, rubbing the back of my head. Ryder just chuckled.

"No worries," he said flashing me a crooked smile. I looked over at Percy who wiggled his eyebrows. I glared at him and he just laughed.

"We're almost in Chicago," Percy said, stretching his arms. I nodded. I thought about my dream the rest of the way to Chicago. The voice echoed through my head again and again, booming in my ears like there was a speaker right next to me. Percy and Ryder spoke about baseball players and the big games the rest of the ride there. A few hours later, we pulled into the Chicago Union Station. Once we were stationed, an announcement came on saying we would be staying here for another four hours.

"So… we can go sightseeing," I said. Staying on the train in the confined spaces was driving me insane and I needed to get out. Percy didn't even hesitate.

"Yes," he said as he stood up and slung his duffel bag over his shoulder. I grabbed my backpack and we left the station to do a little exploring. Ryder looked at his map and led us to the National Hellenic Museum. We walked inside and to put it short, the rooms and halls were _huge_. Some floors were plain, pastel colors while others had extensive and detailed tiled floors. There was even a giant wooden play horse that kids were jumping inside of. One of the rooms even had a mini Pantheon.

A lot of the artifacts and paintings were Greek. We walked through the halls, stopping every once and a while to stare at the weird drawings and artifacts. I was telling Ryder about one of the paintings I had recognized when the ground started to softly trembled. At first, we all figured it was just a tremor… until we heard screaming.

"Crap," we all said in unison. Like we had rehearsed so many times before, everyone spread out. I pulled out Planaxis, Percy pulled out Riptide and Ryder pulled out his dagger. We were on the second floor and at the top of the stairs, the ugliest thing appeared. One head popped up, then another and another until seven heads bobbed towards us.

"Last time I fought _that_ we killed it with a cannon," Percy said. "How the hell are we going to kill it now?"

The Hydra stomped towards us, all seven heads hissing and snapping.

"I guess we'll figure something out," I said, as I readied Planaxis. The middle head breathed fire. We all scattered as the fire scorched the ground we had been a second before.

"What is it with monsters and breathing fire?!" Percy yelled as he hid behind a pillar in the mini Pantheon. I slid into a small hallway that led to a "Personnel Only" door. Ryder was hiding in another hall that led to an art gallery. The Hydra waddled forward, its heads exploring every crack and crevice it could find, searching for us. It poked one of its heads into my hallway and I ducked out of its eyesight. I saw one of the other heads poke around Percy. Almost like a reflex, he slashed.

"PERCY!" I yelled, as the severed head rolled away.

"SORRY! DAMMIT! I ALWAYS FORGET!" he cursed, as the neck split into two new heads. I took the chance the Hydra was busy splitting in two and ran towards the Pantheon. The Hydra was about to breathe fire at us when all the heads snapped up and it spun around knocking over a bunch of artifacts. The end of its tail was bleeding. It spit fire and when the Hydra re-directed its attention towards us, my throat closed up when I didn't see Ryder. His dagger was lying on the floor behind the Hydra. It hissed and had an evil glint in its sixteen eyes. Percy and I looked at each other and a mutual understanding passed between us.

I pressed my watch and it opened up into a giant shield with the stories of all our journeys Tyson had made for me. I walked out and started yelling at the Hydra. All eight heads turned to look at me. I had a feeling this wasn't going to feel good. As the Hydra paid attention to me, Percy snuck around it.

"HEY YOU BIG UGLY BEAST!" I yelled, waving Planaxis to keep his attention on me. "I BET YOUR IQ IS IN THE SINGLE DIGITS EVEN ADDING UP ALL YOUR HEADS TOGETHER!"

One of the heads snarled, clearly not happy with my remark. It lunged forward. I lifted my shield. He smacked into it so hard, it threw me backwards. I stumbled up and jabbed at him, sticking the middle tip of Planaxis into his eye. He roared in pain and shook his head. His eye was now bleeding. The other heads seemed to be infuriated by it and attacked. I saw myself as Hydra kibble when they all pulled back suddenly. I saw Percy holding on to the neck of one head, while Ryder held on to another.

"YEAH!" I yelled, as they rode the Hydra like cowboys. Ryder stabbed its neck as fast he possibly could with his dagger and Percy was giving it some pretty bad lacerations on its back. The Hydra shook, trying to throw them off. I knew they wouldn't really be able to beat it, so I decided to do something I had only accomplished a few times. I took a deep breath and tried to clear my mind. I walked towards the Hydra, trying to stay calm. As soon as I had caught a break I touched its giant chest with Planaxis. The Hydra froze.

I closed my eyes and concentrated hard. I prayed to Poseidon to help me out. I felt a huge tug in my stomach and I felt my muscles lock for a few seconds as I focused all my energy into Planaxis. The heads started to spaz and Percy and Ryder jumped off. They watched in shock as water started to pour out of all eight, slime filled mouths. The Hydra collapsed, twitching, mouths opened wide making terrible choking sounds. I stumbled back and watched as the Hydra slowly stopped moving. All of its eyes turned white and the monster slowly turned into acidic goo and melted through the floor.

"How did you—" Percy said, but before he could finish his sentence, I passed out.


	16. XV Panda

**XV**

**PANDA**

I opened my eyes to see Percy and Ryder. As soon as my eyes fluttered open, they helped me sit up.

"You okay?" Ryder asked, as he moved my hair out of my face. I rubbed my head from a small headache.

"Totally fine," I answered. Then, I made the mistake of looking down. My clothes were burnt to ruins. They had holes and scorch marks and some parts were even still smoldering.

"That Hydra owes me a new outfit!" I said frustrated as I looked at my ruined clothes. Ryder and Percy tried not to laugh as I stomped out of the museum. I chewed them out several times, but it just made it funnier. I walked into the first clothing store I found and bought myself a new set of clothes. Now, I was wearing a pair of black skinny jeans, a black tank with a dark blue plaid shirt over it and my (somewhat burned) boots. Percy bought himself another t-shirt, since his was a little disgusting. He got a black t-shirt and when Ryder saw us the first thing he said was, "You guys must really like black." We shrugged.

We still had about another hour before we had to head back, so we just walked around. We bought some ice cream and laughed as we all hit each other's hands so the ice cream hit their nose as they licked it. Percy had chocolate on his nose and chin. He tried to give me a kiss on the cheek and I ran around Ryder. Ryder laughed until I put my hand on the bottom of his ice cream from behind him, sticking his ice cream into his face.

"Oh yeah? You wanna play like that?" Ryder, the Santa Claus, said. I screamed as both Percy and Ryder stuck their ice cream cones in my face. Instead of a brain freeze, I got a total _face _freeze.

"You didn't!" I yelled, as I wiped the ice cream off my face. I had a disgusting mix of vanilla and chocolate all over my face and parts of my hair. A second later, we all cracked up while everyone walking around gave us really weird looks. We started walking back, when I glanced down a hall and saw a pretty… familiar door. I stopped and took a few steps down the hall. I felt like it was calling to me.

"Panda? Where are you going?" Percy asked, as he came up behind me.

"I don't know… I feel like I should go in there," I said, taking slow steps toward the big brown door with gold engravings saying "Toys For Children" and a golden handle. Percy grabbed my hand.

"I don't think we should," he said. I looked at him. I was close to just turning and leaving, but I felt like I should know what this place was.

"I have to," I said, as I retreated my hand and opened the door. The sweet smell of candy and chocolate hit my nose with a vengeance. The large door slowly creaked open and into a giant room with colorful tiles and every single toy you could ever imagine. In the back corner, there were barrels and barrels of candies and chocolates, while the rest of the room was littered with toys. Some planes were flying, the little robotic guinea pigs and hamsters rolled around aimlessly on the floor. Play pianos filled the air with music and little robots walked around saying silly and pointless things. There were little trampolines, hula hoops, bikes, _everything._

"I have a bad feeling about this," Ryder said, as he looked around skeptically. Percy had his hand inside his pocket, probably getting ready to pull out Riptide if needed. We took a few steps inside. From the back door, a woman came out in the biggest pink dress ever. It was a tight corset on the top and then puffed out like a marshmallow when it caught on fire and exploded. She had long brown hair that reached her waist. She looked motherly and her smile would convince anyone, but it didn't convince me. I knew she was hiding something. She glided towards us, her brown hair flowing behind her. We all took a step back as she stopped in front of us. Her smile grew wide, showing the perfect set of pearly whites.

"Pandora!" she said excitedly. My jaw dropped. How did this lady even know my name? I looked at her like she was crazy, and her smile wavered.

"What are you doing back so soon?" she asked, like she was surprised.

"What?" was the first thing I said. I glanced at Percy, who looked as confused as I was.

"Oh dear," she muttered, looking at me like I was about to die and she couldn't do anything about it.

"You didn't find it?" she asked, but before I could ask her what _it_ was, she made a tsk, tsk, tsk sound and shook her head.

"I believed in you," she said, her voice changing from nice to disappointed.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I don't know what you're talking about," I said. She smiled, but it wasn't the good kind. It was the kind of I'll-show-you-exactly-what-and-you-won't-like-it-because-you're-going-to-die-in-the-process smile. I'd seen that smile way too many times to not know what it meant. I gulped. She turned around, her big pink puffy dress flowing like the wind.

"Pandora, I never liked children," she said. Percy put his hand on my shoulder, like he was ready to pull me back if this woman turned into another monster.

"They make so, so many promises," she said sadly, then turned her big hazel eyes towards us. "Promises they never keep," she said. Her dress melted away, revealing a snake/fish tail about five feet long. The rest of her skin turned into brown scales and she grew terrible pointy teeth. Percy pulled out Riptide and I took out Planaxis. She lunged forward. Percy slashed, but she was so quick he only grazed her bicep. She hissed. While she was busy giving Percy the evil grin, he kicked her in the face and she fell into a small shelf of bracelets and toy make-up.

"RUN!" Percy yelled, as Ryder pulled me out the door. But when we stepped outside, it wasn't the small hallway in Chicago anymore. It was a maze. Percy cursed. We heard the door knob turn and we ran down the narrow hall.

"WHO IS THAT?" Percy yelled. Although he seemed confused, there was also a hint of slight anger in his voice.

"I DON'T KNOW!" I yelled back.

"It's Lamia!" Ryder said, as he took a quick look behind us.

"Who?!" I asked, moving my hair out of my face.

"Lamia! Demon who likes to eat children!" he said.

"Well, that's just the cherry on top, isn't it!" I yelled. Not only was I upset we'd fallen into another monster trap (all my fault of course), but that this Lamia knew me and I didn't know why, when I was certain I'd never met her before. We reached an intersection.

"Where do we go now?" Ryder asked.

"I still get lost in the forest at Camp Half Blood, how would I know?!" Percy said. I felt guilty. This had all been my fault because my stupid curiosity got the best of me and now we were stuck in a maze with a crazed child-eating maniac after us. I tried to think, mentally slamming my head against a wall.

"The only way out is—" we heard a scream down the hall. "Is through her," I finished. About thirty feet away, Lamia slithered towards us.

"Oh kiddies, let's play!" she said sweetly. Percy looked worried.

"How am I going to fight her in such a narrow hallway?" he asked worriedly. I shrunk Planaxis until it was only a foot long.

"I got it," I said, as I took a step forward. Planaxis burned black in my hand. I was so angry at the monsters, so mad at Lamia, so mad at everything. I felt like I was in some giant chess game, and I was the pawn. Lamia was the finally straw. I was going to enjoy this. Lamia slithered towards me with an evil grin. I held Planaxis like a Sai and readied for a fight. She prepared her long nails for some good slashing.

She went to slash, and I blocked her. I struck her in the stomach with the blunt side, spun and slammed the hilt into the side of her head. I then grabbed her long hair and slammed her head against the wall. She screamed. I placed Planaxis behind her neck and willed it to grow. Planaxis grew enough to dig itself into the wall, pinning Lamia. She screamed as she struggled to release herself. She somehow twisted her arm, and cut my forearm. I let go from the pain. She gripped Planaxis and pulled it out. She threw it down the hall and licked her lips. My forearm stung a little, but I ignored it. I ran towards my trident, but I felt something tighten around my ankle and pull me off my feet. I clawed at the ground as Lamia drug me towards her. Ryder had his dagger in his hand and he was about to strike, but Percy stopped him.

"Hello dear," Lamia said sweetly, hunger staining her eyes. As she bent down to grab me, I kicked her in the stomach and she let go from the shock. I took the chance and lunged for Planaxis. As Lamia grew closer, I turned and Planaxis pierced her stomach. Her face contorted in pain, as her body turned to ashes.

* * *

Please, like always, share your thoughts! I am open to any improvements, because I'm not sure if this chapter came out as well as others! Also, if you have the time, please vote on the poll I have on my profile! Thanks! :) Hope you enjoyed!


	17. XVI Percy

**XVI**

**PERCY**

I stood there watching as Panda fought Lamia. My heart had jumped into my throat when Lamia had grabbed Panda by the ankle. I was about to cut her head off and finish her for a good while, but I realized this was something Panda had to do on her own. Ryder was about to intercept, when I stopped him.

"No. This is her fight," I said, grabbing Ryder's shoulder to stop him. He wanted to argue, but I gave him the don't-even-ask-me look. As soon as Lamia had turned to ashes, the maze around us washed away, revealing the hall in Chicago. Panda sat on the floor, holding on to Planaxis, hair covering her face. I knelt next to her.

"Panda?" I called cautiously. She raised her eyes, but what I saw I didn't like. There was a dangerous look in her green eyes. Without saying anything, she stood up and shrunk her trident. Ryder tried to grab her, but she waved him off and started walking. Ryder looked at me with a look of concern.

"I don't know," I shrugged. Ryder sighed and we followed Panda all the way to Union Station. She didn't say anything the whole way to the train. We found out little cabin again and sat in silence, waiting for the train to take off again.

"Panda," I said again, but more of a demand for her to speak to me than a question.

"What?" she said, but she sounded like she was holding back her anger and sarcasm.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"You haven't said anything since Lamia," Ryder added, leaning on his knees. Panda looked out the window and bit her lip, like she didn't want to say anything.

"You can at least—"

"I can't," she burst, cutting Ryder off. "I just can't remember," she whispered. "I'm on this mission to the middle of freaking _nowhere_, with someone sending monsters at us from every direction and I can't remember who or why this Lamia knows me or what she was talking about and I'm frustrated, because I don't even know what I'm going to find in Washington and I can't remember the last week of my life before I disappeared, when I feel like it's the key to everything," she trailed off as her head fell into her hands and she sighed. I was honestly a little surprised by the outburst, but I understood. Ryder stood up and sat next to her. He put his arm around her and tried to pull her into him. At first, she resisted, pulling away, but she gave in and fell against his chest. He rubbed his hand on her back, as he looked at me with a troubled look.

The train pulled out and twenty minutes later, Panda fell asleep. I was busy staring out the window when Ryder called me.

"Psst, Percy," Ryder whispered softly. I turned to look at him.

"What are we going to do?" he asked, as he glanced down at Panda.

"There's nothing we can do," I said, leaning forward. I wanted to desperately help her. Take her away from all the pain and keep her safe and happy, but I knew that would never happen. I couldn't reverse what had happened.

"There has to be something, Percy," Ryder said, as he passed his fingers across Panda's cheek. "I'm worried about her. She's been through a lot." I didn't need Ryder to tell me. I already knew that. Ryder pursed his lips. A few seconds later, he spoke again.

"First time I saw her, she was lying on the ground," he said. "She snapped at me a few times," he said, glancing up at me. I chuckled, because that was something Panda would do. Ryder shrugged.

"You probably think I was crazy to tag along," he said.

"Crazy? No way. I think it's brave," I said. Ryder raised an eyebrow like he wasn't sure if he should believe me.

"Right," he said sarcastically.

"Ryder, I've been lucky enough to be in the company of some really amazing people. I think I know it when I see it," I said. "And the way you attacked that Hydra with nothing but a dagger? Dude, come on."

Ryder looked down sheepishly. I realized that Ryder wasn't weird or creepy or untrustworthy after all. When I had first seen him, with his messy hair and black clothes and a troublemaker face (I should know), I wasn't sure if he was someone I could trust. But he's proven me wrong and I enjoyed that fact. It wasn't every day you found someone like that.

Panda moved and mumbled something almost inaudible. But I made something like _I didn't mean to._ We both frowned, but decided not to wake her.

"So, where are you from?" I asked, some out of curiosity, but mostly out of boredom.

"Many places," he said. "I lived in Maine for a while, then Montana, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Utah, finally here," he said. I was surprised at how many times he'd moved.

"How old are you?" I asked. I mean, if he was young, he couldn't have possibly had an easy life.

"Seventeen, I'll be turning eighteen in two weeks," he said. "If I live that long," he said sarcastically.

"Hey, I beat the odds for six years. I think you can beat them for two weeks," I said. Ryder chuckled.

"Good point," he said. It was around 11 o'clock when we pulled into Minneapolis. As the train jerked to a stop, Panda stirred. She opened her eyes sleepily and squinted at me like she couldn't see me. She then sat up and rubbed her eyes. The right side of her hair was up in messy curls and her necklace looked more like a choker.

"I don't know what Annabeth sees in you," she mumbled. From anyone else, I probably would've taken offense in that, but it was Panda. And she insults people when she's asleep.

"I love you too," I said sarcastically and she sent me a very sarcastic smile with a very obscene gesture.

"Where are we?" she asked, as she glanced out the window.

"Minneapolis," Ryder said. "Your hair's a mess," Ryder chuckled, as he patted down her matted curls. Panda looked down sheepishly and took control of her hair.

* * *

Wow, sorry it took me so long to pull this chapter out. I hope you guys like it. Please review and lend me your thoughts :)


	18. XVII Percy

**XVII**

**PERCY**

By the time Panda had finished brushing her knotted hair, Ryder and I had already pulled out all three beds. Panda lay down, while Ryder stepped on me, trying to reach the top bed. The cabin grew very silent, but not ten minutes later, I could hear Ryder snoring.

I stared at the top bunk bed, just thinking about our "mission". What it meant, what was going to happen… I got a terrible feeling about it. I turned in my bed, until I was facing Panda.

"Panda?" I called softly. She turned around, and stared at me with her big green eyes.

"Yeah?" she replied quietly.

"What were you dreaming about earlier?" I asked, recalling the words she had mumbled. She pursed her lips. She then laid flat and looked at the ceiling as she spoke.

"I was standing in the throne room of Mount Olympus," she said, as she pulled her arms up and placed them under her head. "I couldn't see anyone, but I heard a voice. It was talking to me. Telling me I shouldn't have meddled and I shouldn't have stuck my nose where it didn't belong," she whispered, closing her eyes.

"Percy, I must've really pissed off some god," she said, as she turned and looked at me with sad eyes. I felt like she knew which god it was, but if she did she didn't show. I bit my lip as I tried to think about something comforting to say, but you couldn't really give something like that an upside, especially not when I believed that she had angered some god, for whatever reason. I remembered my dream about Poseidon and Zeus fighting and I had a feeling their argument was about Panda. I tried to remember the week before she had disappeared, but the only thing I could remember was that she had set Annabeth and me on a date. She said she wanted us to spend some "quality time" together, since we hadn't done much after the war against Kronos. But now, I realized it probably had nothing to do with quality time. I had the vaguest trace of a memory left when we had come back from our date to find Panda gone and a note saying she'd be back soon.

"We'll figure this out. I promise," I said, pulling up my pinky. She smiled and raised her pinky as well.

"Pinky promise," she whispered with a soft smile. About ten minutes later, I fell asleep.

I found myself standing inside the Big House. Chiron was in his wheelchair, holding a glass blue-tinted bottle in his hand. He stared at the bottle with a mixture of sadness and anger in his eyes. He gripped the bottle and I could see he was very tempted in throwing it across the room, but he didn't. He closed his eyes tight and took a deep breath. He wheeled himself into his office and tucked the bottle softly into the drawer of his desk and locked it shut. He then looked up at his bulletin board and pulled down a picture of Panda and me after a game of Capture the Flag. Panda's vest had a giant gash going across it, with her helmet sloping sideways, her jeans torn to shreds and her face covered with mud and dirt. I didn't look much better. One of the straps of my armor had been cut off, so it hung sideways on me. The feather of my helmet was gone and I was missing the bottom half of the left side of my jeans. We were smiling like idiots, with my arm around Panda and our weapons raised.

Chiron rubbed his thumb over Panda, like he was sad.

"I am so sorry," Chiron whispered. I wondered how he still had a picture of Panda, since everything about her had disappeared along with her. Whoever had taken her away, probably didn't cover ALL their bases.

I wanted to say something, but the dream changed. Instead of standing in Chiron's office, I was in the attic. I heard footsteps coming up the stairs and I hid behind a small armoire, which I felt silly about afterwards because usually people didn't see me in dreams. I was shocked when I saw a familiar head pop up at the top of the stairs. It was Panda.

She was wearing a pair of blue jeans with a white tank, an open blue plaid shirt and a pair of converse. She had a nervous look in her eyes and she held the familiar blue bottle. She held it cautiously, like she was afraid of it. Her eyes darted all over the room, before she walked to the very back of the attic. She moved a giant dresser with her shoulder and knelt down in front of a smaller dresser behind it. She pulled out a small black key and unlocked the drawer and softly placed the bottle inside it. She then closed it, locked it, pushed the bigger dresser in front of it and quickly walked out of the attic, almost jumping down the stairs. I went to follow her, but there was a sudden burst of light from the window in the attic. I shielded my eyes and I woke up to a bright light entering through the window. Panda had lifted the curtains, letting in the sunlight that unfortunately had smacked me right in the face. I moaned, as I sat up. Panda was now only in her tank, with her plaid shirt balled up and stuck in the corner of her bed which she had already tucked back into a bench seat.

"Talking to Ryder in his sleep is so fun," she said; when she saw I was awake.

"Check this out," she said, as she stood up on my bed to get to Ryder. "Ryder… Ryder you're a beautiful little princess who frolics through the meadows with the friendly little purple deer," she said, as she struggled not to laugh. Ryder stirred and mumbled.

"I'm a princess," he sighed contentedly. I snickered and Panda kicked my leg telling me to shut up.

"Yes, and you ride purple deer over rainbows," Panda whispered.

"Over rainbows, yeah… I like the purple deer," Ryder muttered sleepily. "I'm princess of the purple deer!" Ryder exclaimed softly, as he yawned and started snoring again. Panda jumped down laughing and I couldn't help but laugh too.

"Next time, we videotape this," I said, as I got up.

"Oh, definitely," Panda laughed. Panda threw herself on her bench seat and looked at me, like she expected me to say something. I could feel her eyes on me as I folded my bed. After about five minutes, I broke.

"What?!" I said, sitting down and looking at her.

"What were you dreaming about?" she asked, her trident a normal green now. I didn't want to tell her. I mean, she already had enough on her mind; I didn't want to add to it. But she stared me down and I knew she wouldn't give up unless I told her. So I did. I told her about a blue bottle and her locking it away. Her eyebrows furrowed.

"Blue bottle…" she repeated to herself. She stood up and started pacing. "I can vaguely remember a bottle, but I can't remember anything of what was inside it," she said, scratching her head. She sighed and sat down again. I put my hand on her shaking knee.

"No worries," I said, trying to calm her down. She looked up at me.

"It doesn't make any sense, though. I mean, I feel like we have all the puzzle pieces, but nothing to base it on," she said with a pout.

"I mean, maybe—" she began to say, before we were surprisingly interrupted.

"PERCY!" A voice said angrily, and the second I heard it, I knew who it was. I was almost afraid to look up, but I did anyways. There, floating right in the middle of the cabin, was Annabeth on the other side of an Iris message.

"Hey, Annabeth," I said awkwardly.

"Don't you Annabeth me," she said, her eyes glaring at me. "Where are you?!"

"Um…" Panda looked at me and shook her head. She mouthed the words _don't tell. _Before I could answer, Annabeth bombarded me with a series of questions.

"What do you think you're doing, Percy? Where are you going? Where's Panda? What is going on?" Annabeth rambled. I knew I couldn't answer any of her questions, also because we didn't even know all the answers.

"Did I ever tell you how cute you look when you get angry?" I said, forcing a sweet smile. On the other side of the Iris message, Panda did a face-palm.

"Percy, don't change the subject!" Annabeth said angrily. I gulped. I only knew one way out of this and, assuming we get out of this alive and Annabeth didn't dump me, Annabeth would hate me for a long while. As she asked another question, I slashed my hand through the Iris message and cut it off. Panda's eyes were wide.

"You, sir, are going to be in big trouble when we get back to camp."

I sat there, watching nothing but grass and dirt passing by, and thinking about what Annabeth would do to me when she saw me again. The more I thought about it, the more I was sure I'd be left with some bruises.

"Well, I'm going to go freshen up," Panda said, as she stood up and grabbed her plaid shirt.

"Shout if you need me," she said, as she gave me a lazy salute and left. I stayed thinking about, especially about the things Annabeth would do to me and zoned out. About fifteen minutes later, I heard a scream, but not one of those girly screams you hear in movies. It was that scream of someone fighting for their life. It was Panda. What had she gotten herself into _now_? I jumped up, slapped Ryder who jumped yelling RAINBOWS, and ran outside to find Panda.

Ryder followed close behind, as we shoved past screaming and panicked people. At the end of our rail car, there was a giant hole with papers and light items flying through it and out. On the corner of the ragged hole, was Panda's plaid shirt swaying in the wind. We ran to the hole and struggled up the little ladder to the top of the rail car. I almost turned and ran.

Panda held Planaxis in her hand as she faced off with a _giant_ python. Not the big thirty feet python, I mean a python that was probably fifty to sixty feet long and about three feet wide. It was green, with brown stripes crossing its back horizontally like railroad tracks. The python was coiled up, with its giant head about ten feet in the air, hissing at Panda. I ran towards the python and jabbed Riptide into its body. The python spun around with amazing speed and hit me, knocking me down. Ryder threw his dagger at its face and it dug itself into its throat. The python hissed in pain and thrashed its head from side to side trying to get rid of the dagger.

I rose to my feet and grabbed Riptide. The python turned around again and snapped at Panda, who had slashed at the python, leaving three nasty, bloody gashes on its side. Panda jumped to the side as the python's mouth close shut. Except she didn't make it all the way, and the python bit her foot. Panda screamed as she clawed at the ground. The python swung her and slammed her against the rail car.

"NO!" Ryder yelled as he slashed at the python with a weapon I'd never seen before. It was scythe, crooked looking like the one you'd see Death with and the blade was Stygian iron with silver inscriptions on it. He swung and made a very nasty cut, which seemed to hurt the monster more than Riptide or Planaxis. Once I got over my shock of Ryder's new weapon, I lunged and cut off the very tip of the python's tail. The python hissed and glared at me big red eyes. Ryder slashed again, drawing the python's attention. Good. Let's play tag. While Ryder kept the python busy, I ran around it towards Panda.

I knelt next to her. Her hair was matted in blood and her ankle was bleeding badly. I softly tapped her cheek to try and wake her up.

"Panda," I whispered, as I tried to wake her. Her eyes slowly opened, but she was incredibly weak.

"It's okay. You're okay," I whispered. I was about to lift her up when something slammed into my chest and knocked me a few feet away. It was the python. I swung Riptide and cut the side of its face. It opened its mouth wide and hissed.

"Come on worm!" I yelled, as I stood up and readied Riptide. Apparently, that was its pet peeve. It snapped and I dodged out of the way, slashing at its neck. I saw Ryder from the corner of my eye, jumping on the python and slashing. The python turned and hit Ryder, throwing him off. I saw Panda standing up, clearly not well.

The python looked down the train and when I looked, I saw a chasm fast approaching. I slashed at the python again, but this time the python paid no attention to me. As soon as we were over the chasm that dropped into a river, the python slammed into Panda.

Then, it all happened too quickly. Panda stumbled backwards and with a scream, she fell off the train.

"NO!" I yelled as I lunged forward to grab her, but I missed her by a second and I saw her tumbling towards the river. Then, from the corner of my eye, I saw Ryder pull his shirt off and jump off the train. I watched in helpless horror as my two companions fell hundreds of feet towards the Earth.

* * *

Okay, sorry for updating then taking it off and updating it again, but it was necessary XD Please review and lend me your thoughts!

And thanks to **Percy Waterblue** for your reviews! I dedicate this chapter and the next to ya! Thanks!


	19. XVIII Panda

**XVIII**

**PANDA**

I hurtled towards the river. Normally, I wouldn't panic because the water wouldn't hurt me, but this river was mostly dried up. And a dried up river bed? Definitely going to cause a big _splat!_

I screamed at the top of my lungs as I fell through the air. The earth grew closer and closer and any second now, I would be demigod road kill. I saw myself broken and bent at unnatural directions. I closed my eyes and waited for the impact, but suddenly, I just stopped. I felt something wrap around me, but it wasn't scary like my dream. It was comforting. It was warm. I opened one eye and saw a familiar face.

It was Ryder. A very shirtless Ryder too… I opened my eyes. I was still in the air, which was totally freaking me out, but at least I wasn't falling anymore.

"Ryder?" I whispered. He looked down at me and smiled, his messy hair swaying in the wind.

"You're a son of Zeus?!" I asked as it dawned on me that it was definitely not me who was doing the flying.

"Not exactly," he said with a crooked smile. And that's when I noticed it. I mean, how could I not? Sprouting from his back were two giant black wings with pure black feathers that glistened in the sunlight. He was beautiful.

"I don't understand," I said, as I stared at his wings as he softly beat them. He smiled.

"Thanatos," he said. My eyes widened. I had never heard of a kid, of any kid, whose parent was Thanatos. I was utterly shocked. He saw the surprise on my face and chuckled.

"I thought you said you were unclaimed!" I said, a little hurt he hadn't trusted me enough to share his secret with.

"Well, I wasn't sure how you'd see me after I told you," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if you're the son of the death god, people will see you differently. I mean, I saw how people got a little edgy around the children of Hades, I didn't want to know how they'd react around me," he said.

"Oh," I said. He smiled one more time, probably to show me he was fine, and he flapped his wings harder, taking us towards the moving train. It took him a while to reach the speeding train, but we made it and tumbled onto the rail car. When I stood up, I got the worst migraine ever. I knelt down and tried to shake off the dizziness.

"PANDA!" a voice yelled. I felt a hand grip my arm tightly and another lifting up my head. It was Percy. His eyes were slightly red and his cheeks were a little wet.

"I thought I lost you," he said, his voice cracking as he touched my face and my hair like he hadn't seen me in a thousand years. I grabbed his hands.

"I'm fine," I said. When I looked at Ryder, his wings were gone, but he was still shirtless.

"Thanks Ryder," Percy said, as he threw his arm around me and helped me up. We walked towards the small ladder (with me limping because of my bit ankle), when I noticed something missing.

"Where's the python?" I asked, looking around.

"He had to split," Percy said. I looked at him a little confused. But then it dawned on me. Oh. Split. I got it… Ryder grabbed his t-shirt as we walked towards the ladder. Percy threw me on his back, like a piggyback ride and climbed down. When he landed inside the rail car, it was abandoned.

"At least we've got the car to ourselves," I said sarcastically. We finally reached our cabin and I sat down. Percy gave me a square of ambrosia and my headache started to fade.

"Here," Ryder said, as he pulled up my ankle and started to patch it up. I winced as he wiped off the blood and revealed some really bad holes from the python's teeth.

"So…" Percy said, breaking the silence.

"I'm the son of Thanatos," Ryder said, looking at Percy. Percy pursed his lips and awkwardly nodded.

"Okay, that makes sense," Percy said, leaning back. I rolled my eyes.

"And that scythe?" Percy asked, as he put his arms under his head.

"Gift from dad," Ryder said, as he finished bandaging my ankle. I was confused about what they were talking about, but before I could ask anything, there was an announcement on the air saying they've contained the fire that had erupted, causing a small explosion that had caused the crater at the end of the rail car and that people were free to enter the rail car again. It also mentioned we would be stopping at West Glacier, Montana for a few hours before taking off to Seattle, Washington.

"A fire?" I said sarcastically, as I rested my foot on a small pillow.

"Mortals," Percy said, rolling his eyes. I laughed, probably because I was tired. Ryder left and came back with a tray full of food. We stuffed ourselves.

"Panda, you're a messy eater," Ryder laughed. I looked in the mirror and I had cheese all over my chin from the cheese fries. I blushed and wiped my chin.

"You should see her eat baby back ribs," Percy laughed. Ryder laughed and I glared at them both, but that didn't stop them. Percy spent the next ten minutes talking about that one time I had baby back ribs and made such a big mess, I had to throw out my clothes, because they had gotten so badly stained. Oh, I was going to get him back for that. A few hours later, the train stopped at the West Glacier station. I looked down at me clothes, and realized they were severely ripped and I had lost my plaid shirt.

"I think I'm go to go see if I can find some clothes," I said, standing up. With ambrosia and nectar, my ankle had healed enough for me to walk.

"I'll go with you," Ryder said, standing up.

"Yeah, after last time, I'm going to," Percy said, standing up as well. I get attacked by a giant python _once_ and suddenly, I can't be left alone. We all grabbed our bags and walked out of station. There were beautiful mountains to our left and tall pine trees behind some small buildings on the other side of the road. There some wooden buildings that looked like houses and a gas station named Conoco.

"Well, we've only got about half an hour. Let's check the gas station," I said, as I looked both ways and started crossing the road. I could've sworn I saw something red in the trees, but when I looked again I saw nothing. Maybe it was a Red Cardinal or something. We walked inside the gas station and it looked just like any other. I walked over to the tourist section and tried to find something decent to wear, but all I found were t-shirts saying MONTANA. I guess it would do. I grabbed a light blue shirt that said: WEST GLACIER, MONTANA and paid for it. I walked into the bathroom and changed into my t-shirt, throwing away my torn tank away. I walked out, to find Percy and Ryder with a bunch of bags of chips in their arms.

"Do we really need all this? We barely have any money left!" I chided. They just shrugged.

"Well, come on, we've got like ten minutes left before the train leaves us," I said, as I started for the road. Suddenly, a huge shadow fell over me. I looked up too late. I was slammed against the ground and I had a tremendous amount of pressure on my chest. When I looked up, I saw a human face. A very ugly human face. The face was red and all around it was a huge, matted red mane. The monster roared and revealed rows of terribly sharp teeth. I struggled to move, but it had a giant lion paw pinning me down.

I was about to call for Percy and Ryder, but I didn't have to. They already had their weapons out and ready. They charged the monster. Percy rolled under it and slashed at its paw. The monster roared and stumbled back as it looked at its bloody paw. I quickly jumped up and pulled out Planaxis. Ryder ran to our side, his scythe out. I hadn't seen it before, but it was pretty stunning; black Stygian iron with silver inscriptions. It was beautiful. Now that I was actually facing the beast, I realized what it was. It was a Manticore.

Its sleek red coat gleamed in the sunlight and its black tail swung around, showing off a club with lethal spikes. The Manticore hissed and raised its tail. Crap. It shot out spines as quickly as a machine gun. We all jumped out of the way. Ryder and I had jumped the same way and I accidentally fell on him. I looked into his eyes and for a quick second, I had forgotten all about the Manticore.

"HEY! YOU TWO LOVEBIRDS WANNA HELP?!" Percy yelled from the other side.

"Oh right," I said, as I quickly stood up. Ryder's cheeks were a soft red, and I bet mine were the same. Panda, you're in the middle of a fight, snap out of it. The Manticore snapped at me. Is it me or are these monsters out for _my_ blood? I sidestepped and slashed at its face, leaving three gashes on the Manticore's face. It growled and hit me with its paw, knocking me against the gas station wall. Ryder cut the Manticore's toe off, which didn't sit well with him. The Manticore shot spines at Ryder, and he didn't jump out of the way fast enough. Three spines caught him in the back and he fell flat on his face. Percy was behind the monster, and the monster made a fatal mistake without realizing it. The Manticore lowered its tail and in a second, Percy jumped and sliced, cutting off its tail. The Manticore roared and threw blood everywhere as it swung its severed tail. Percy ran to my side.

"Can you do that drowning thing again?" he panted. I probably would've, but I burned myself out every time I did, and sometimes it didn't work. I couldn't take the chance.

"I can't," I said sadly. The Manticore lumbered towards us.

"Percy, we need to help Ryder. I'll distract the Manticore, while you get him," I said, willing Planaxis to grow to full size. Percy looked at me doubtful.

"Go!" I yelled, as I ran forward and waved Planaxis to keep its attention, which wasn't too hard. The Manticore growled and stomped towards me. I sidestepped his bite and rolled under him. I jabbed Planaxis upward. It plunged into its skin like butter and the Manticore froze. It toppled over and began to melt. I heard a bell and when I glanced across the street, the Amtrak train was pulling out.

"No!" I yelled. The train gained speed and in less than a minute, it disappeared into the distance.

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I hope you liked the chapter, please review and give me your thoughts! Thanks

Like I said before, I dedicate this chapter to **Percy Waterblue**, who helped me form Ryder.


	20. XIX Panda

**XIX**

**PANDA**

I stomped my foot in frustration at the fact we'd missed our train, before I spun and ran towards Ryder, who was moaning in pain. I knelt next to him, shrinking Planaxis and clipping it to my necklace. There was blood all over his back and three pretty big holes.

"The nectar is healing the wounds, but it's not stopping the poison," Percy said grimly, as he used one of his extra shirts and wiped off the blood. Ryder moaned as he lay down belly first on the hot cement. Sweat beaded all over his face and some blood trickled down the side of his lips.

"Let's get him out of the sun," I said, as I slowly turned Ryder over. He grunted, but didn't complain. I grabbed Ryder under his arms and Percy grabbed his legs, as we moved him under the slightly damaged gas station. When we set him down, Percy scanned around.

"There's a resort. We're gonna have to stay here until he's fit to move on. I'll try and get us a room," Percy said, as he grabbed his torn duffel bag and walked towards the resort. I sat cross-legged on the floor, with Ryder's head on my lap.

"He's optimistic," Ryder said, taking a shaky breath.

"He should be. You're going to be just fine," I said, as I fixed his bloody shirt. As I said it, I doubted myself. A lot of people didn't survive Manticore poison, but I wasn't going to let Ryder die. Over my dead body will he be crossing the River Styx because of me.

"Yeah," he said dryly. He winced and moaned.

"You will," I said again, but I wasn't sure who I was trying to convince. Ryder scoffed weakly. I blamed myself that Ryder was lying here in this condition. If I had just stayed on the stupid train, this wouldn't have happened. If I had realized that that stupid "red cardinal" wasn't a bird after all, I could've stopped this. I wanted to scream, but I bit my lip. I had to keep myself under control. For Ryder's sake. About ten minutes later, Percy came jogging back.

"With some persuasion, I got us a room," he said. We helped Ryder up, and we slowly, but surely made our way to the resort, which wasn't too far. It was a beautiful, big wooden house tucked into the woods. We walked inside. The resort had wooden floors with little bear statues in random places. Percy already had the key, so he led us to a cabin. There were only two beds with quilt blankets. There was one window that gave us a view of the forest behind the resort; tall and thick pine trees. We set Ryder down on one bed and patched him up.

He fell asleep, still moaning every now and again, but otherwise, still fine. Percy and I sat down on the other bed, watching Ryder.

"What are we going to do?" I whispered. Although Ryder was asleep, I didn't want to risk him hearing us. Percy pursed his lips and he had a look in his eyes I didn't like.

"Maybe… we could call Chiron," Percy said. To tell you the truth, I didn't want to contact Chiron. I had left without even saying goodbye on a mission I could very well die on and one he didn't even know about. What would he do if we called him? But when I looked at Ryder, there was no doubt. We had to. I nodded.

"Okay then," Percy said as we left the room. We walked outside and found a hose. Percy grabbed the hose and pointed it at the sun. He pulled out a drachma from his jeans and twisted it in his hand.

"Ready?" he said. I nodded. Water sprayed from the hose and he threw the drachma into the spray. I closed my eyes and thought about Chiron in Camp Half Blood, and prayed Annabeth was nowhere near him. An Iris-message appeared. Chiron stood there in centaur form in the woods.

"Chiron?" I called cautiously. He spun around so quickly, I thought he was going to trip and fall.

"Panda?" he said. I nodded.

"Where are you?" he asked, as he looked passed me, probably trying to pinpoint my location.

"That's not important right now. Ryder's sick. He got hit with Manticore poison. The nectar isn't stopping it. What can we do?" I said. Chiron's expression changed completely.

"There's no sure way of stopping it," Chiron said grimly. "There's a myth that the poison can counter-act itself, but it's not a proven cure."

"Why not?" Percy asked.

"For some, the poison could make the wounds that much worse and… death that much quicker," Chiron said. I felt like something was constricting around my heart.

"We have to try it," I said reluctantly. I didn't want to risk it, but it seemed better than any other.

"Panda, are you sure—"

"Yes," I said quickly, leaving Percy a little surprised.

"Panda, you must be very careful," Chiron said.

"Thanks Chiron," I said. I was about to close the message when Chiron spoke again.

"Panda," he said. He looked at me, like he was worried for my life. I believe he was. "Be safe," he said. I guessed he figured there was no way he could stop us, even if he didn't know what we were up against. I gave him a kind smile and closed the message. Percy put down the hose.

"Let's get that poison," he said. We walked back to the gas station and searched through the wreckage for the three spines. After about twenty minutes of searching, I stumbled across three big spines.

"I got them!" I yelled, as I used my shirt to pick up the poisonous spines. We ran back to the resort and into the room. We found Ryder writhing in pain on the floor. I gasped and ran towards him. His body was shaking and his eyes were rolled up into his head.

"Ryder!" I said, as I tried to shake him out of it. No use.

"Percy, bring the poison!" I yelled, as I turned Ryder over and ripped off his bandages, revealing the three bloody holes. I prayed to the gods I was making the right choice and with extreme care, we squeezed in as much poison as possible into his wounds. Eventually, Ryder stopped shaking. His body went limp and for a second of horror, I thought he was gone. But he coughed and I laughed in relief. He was wheezing, but he seemed to be recovering. Carefully, we hoisted him up and laid him down on the bed. We gave him some nectar and he fell asleep.

* * *

I hope this chapter came out good, because I'm not too sure about it.

Thanks to **Percy Waterblue** for the very... intriguing reviews! lol, thanks ;)

And please, please, vote on the poll on my profile! Thanks!

I also realized I haven't thanked the guest (-?) for the helpful advice! Thanks!


	21. XX Percy

**XX**

**PERCY**

Not twenty minutes later, Panda had fallen asleep as well. I looked at my watch; 3:43 PM. I decided to let her sleep. I pulled the blanket out from under her and softly placed it over her. She stirred, but stayed sleeping. She looked remarkably calm considering the fight and the tough choice about how to save Ryder's life. I kissed her forehead and walked out to the small lobby. I asked the lady behind the desk if there was any computer I could use. I figured that since we would be staying here for a while, I could hopefully shed some light on our mission.

"You can use that one over there," the lady said, pointing her crooked finger to a dusty computer on the farthest corner of the lobby. It was one of those really old computers; the big ones. I turned it on, hitting it a few times for lack of cooperation, and started my search. I opened up google and typed in: _Marmes Rockshelter._

Tons of results appeared. I clicked one talking about history. They had found tons of artifacts and cremations made about ten thousand years ago. I read every link that came up (took me a long while too thanks to my dyslexia) and studied every picture, but nothing yielded any clues to our mission. I sighed in frustration. I typed furiously as I tried twisting words for different results.

"There's got to be _something_," I muttered to myself, as my head fell into my hands. After about two hours, I gave up. I shut the computer down and left for the cabin. Panda was still asleep, now softly snoring. I sat down on one of the loveseats in the cabin and thought. I tried to remember all the myths and legends in Greek mythology, but nothing came up. I was almost tempted in calling Annabeth, but I knew that would be a huge disaster. It was only six o'clock, but I decided to go to sleep. I lay down in bed next to Panda and tried to find a comfortable position to sleep in. Several times, Panda turned and slapped me in the face or kicked or almost pushed me off the bed. No monster was worse than trying to sleep in a three foot radius of Panda.

I fell asleep and to my great relief, I had no nightmares. It was finally bliss. The next thing I knew though, my face kissed the wooden floor.

"OW!" I said, as I stumbled up.

"Oops," Panda said, stifling a laugh. "Sorry."

"Yeah right," I said, as I rubbed my nose. I glanced at my watch and it was now 8:26 AM. Well, I certainly slept like a rock. Panda laughed and stood up. She was barefoot and she wasn't wearing her watch or belt. Her hair was a total and complete mess and her clothes didn't look any better. I laughed. It felt good to laugh too, especially after yesterday.

"What monster attacked you in your sleep?" I laughed.

"Same one that got you," she said, eyeing me up and down. "I think that fall off the bed was an improvement," she said. Okay, this was war.

"Oh yeah?" I said, taking a step closer to her. She narrowed her eyes.

"Yeah," she said dryly, as she took a step towards me.

"You're gonna regret you said that," I said.

"Oh yeah? You want a piece of this?" she said, with a cocky look on her face and doing the "bring it" sign with her fingers. Then, I lunged. I tackled her and we fell to the floor. I thought I had her, but she head butted me and spun until she had me pinned.

"Just give up Seaweed Brain, you ain't gonna win," she said cockily. I smiled. I kneed her in the back and flipped her over me. She slammed on the ground with a thud and made a funny sounding moan. I wrapped one arm around her neck and gave her a nuggie.

"AH!" she said, as she flailed her arms. I don't know how, but she somehow managed to kick me in the head and I let go, falling backwards. Panda stood up and jumped on me.

"UUFF!" I said as the wind was knocked out of me. We grappled each other and rolled across the floor. We finally landed in the weirdest lock ever. We both struggled to break free when we heard someone clear their throat.

"Having fun kids?" Ryder said, as he slowly sat up on his bed. We laughed and let each other go. Panda stood up first.

"I still won," she said, as she walked towards Ryder.

"You wish," I said, as I stood up and followed her. Ryder looked fifty times better than he had yesterday. His wounds had almost completely healed and he wasn't being affected by the poison anymore.

"How you doing?" Panda said, as she sat on the bed next to Ryder.

"Like I could run a marathon," Ryder said.

"Good," Panda said, as she rubbed his hand.

"Are you well enough to walk?" I asked. Ryder slowly stood up and almost stumbled. I caught him, but he waved me off. He straightened up and took a few steps.

"Yeah, I think I'm good," he said, as he leaned against the foot of the bed.

"Well, I guess we should go and figure out some other mode of transportation," Panda said, as she stood up. As Panda left and tried to figure out our next move, I helped Ryder pack up our things. We restocked on necessary supplies, like food and stuff like toothbrushes and perfumes. Just because we're on a mission that could lead to our death, doesn't mean we can't smell good too. We walked out, I gave the key back to the lady and we left the resort to find Panda outside on a public telephone.

As we approached, she hung up. She turned to us.

"Good news and bad news," she said.

"Good news is that I found us a bus station," she said. "Bad news is that the next bus leaving for Washington State departs at around 9:50 AM. There's no way to make it there on time, since it's almost an hour away," she said. Well, that was bad news.

"But…" she continued. She looked at me like I would hate the idea she was about to suggest.

"But?" I repeated. She gave me a smile that made me uneasy.

"We can call the Gray Sisters," she said. She was right. I hated it. The Gray Sisters. The three old ladies with only one eye and that drove like total and complete maniacs. I laughed.

"I'm not kidding," Panda said, raising an eyebrow.

"I almost died last time!" I said defensively. Ryder looked at us confused.

"Well, that's the only way we'll get there on time!" I bit my lip. I didn't want to admit Panda had a point, but I really, really didn't want to get into their car again. I sighed.

"Fine," I said. Panda cleared her throat, pulled out a drachma and threw it into the street. Ryder watched her in complete confusion, but his expression quickly changed to shock as the street bubbled a bright red and a gray smoky car slowly rose upwards.

"Perseus! Pandora!" Tempest said, as her one eye travelled between us.

"Destination?" Anger said, peeking around her other two sisters.

"1305 1st Avenue East Kalispell, MT 59901," Panda said, as she opened the door and gestured for us to get in. I jumped in first, Panda helped Ryder in next and she came in last. Before Panda had fully closed the door, Tempest stepped on the gas and sped off. We all slammed against the backseat and grabbed on for dear life. The good thing about where we were, was that there aren't as many pedestrians or turns as New York, but the car still jerked every now and again as the sisters fought for the drachma and the eye. I closed my eyes and tried to relax, which wasn't easy. About twenty five minutes later, we had arrived. The car jerked to a hard stop and we all fell forwards.

"Here!" all three sisters yelled in unison. Without hesitation, we all crawled out of the taxi so fast, we all tumbled onto the sidewalk and the sisters disappeared in the distance.

"Well, that was interesting," Ryder said, as he stood up. Panda stood up and grabbed his arm, putting it around her shoulders and helped him walk to the bus station.

"Never again," I growled at Panda. She stuck her tongue out and stopped at a small bench seat in front of the station. Ryder sat down and Panda, like always, was the one who bought our tickets with what little money we had left. We had barely made it. The bus had arrived just five minutes after we had. We climbed in and picked a seat in the very back.

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Okay, so tell me what you think about this chapter, please! Thanks in advance!


	22. XXI Percy

**XXI**

**PERCY**

My butt was getting numb from sitting down for so long. We'd been on the bus already for six hours. It would take us another two hours to get to Seattle. I was mentally slamming my head against the window. I hadn't realized I was really hitting my head until Panda grabbed my hair.

"Easy cowboy," Panda said, as she turned my head towards her. Her shoulder-length hair was unruly and her clothes were ripped, but she still looked nice. I chuckled.

"This is so boring," I said, as I dropped my head back against the seat.

"You got that right," Panda agreed. A few minutes later, Ryder spoke.

"So what are we planning on doing when we get to Marmes Rockshelter?" Ryder asked, from the other bench seat. Panda pursed her lips.

"To be honest, I have no idea," she said, laying her head against the bench seat. "I was hoping though, that when I got there, it would give me some clues."

"Panda, half of that excavation site is underwater," I said, recalling all the links I'd researched. All that place was, was a lot of dirt. Panda looked at me like I had said something stupid.

"Percy, Poseidon, water, come on," she said.

"Either way, what clues are hoping to find?" Ryder said, leaning on his knees.

"I don't know!" she said frustrated. I started to think about all the stuff that had happened to us in the past few days and tried to piece them together.

"Do you remember anything about Lamia?" I asked. Maybe if she recalled something about her, about what she said, we could figure something out. She looked at me sadly.

"I wish I did," she said softly.

"Well, do we at least know who's been sending the monsters after us?" Ryder asked, as he passed his fingers through his hair. Panda and I looked at each other. I remembered my dreams and I was 99.9% sure I knew who it was.

"Well... I think it's... Zeus?" Panda said as she scrunched up her face. Ryder's eyes widened.

"You think Zeus-" Ryder began, before the sound of screeching tires echoed through and the bus driver yelled some pretty bad curses. We all stood up as the bus shuddered to a stop. Everyone on the bus started screaming and running outside as the front of the bus burst into flames. The flames came so quickly, we didn't have time to run out. Ryder pulled out a nightstick and broke the glass of the bus.

"GO!" he yelled, as he helped Panda out the window. I jumped through the window, accidentally landing on Panda.

"Sorry," I said, as I rolled off her.

"You're about as sorry as Hades is friendly," she muttered. Ryder was last out, falling to his knees in front of us. The fire engulfed the bus in a fiery inferno.

"It's going to blow!" Panda yelled, as she grabbed our arms and started running. I realized the gas tank was leaking and you didn't have to be a genius to know that gas plus fire was _not_ a good combination. The bus blew up, knocking us about twenty feet in the air. We landed in a field of grass.

"What the hell happened?!" Panda yelled, as she stumbled up. My ears were buzzing and I felt like I had been smacked with a log. There was a loud screech and a shadow fell over us. I looked up.

There was a giant bird, one I immediately recognized even if I'd never seen it in person. Its feathers were bright yellow, orange and red and its tail looked like a peacock's. The feathers on its head and tail were on fire. It was a Phoenix. The Phoenix soared and blew fire on us. We all jumped out of the way, all yelling SHIT!

We pulled out our weapons, though I figured it wouldn't really do much good against a giant fire-breathing bird that stayed well out of our reach. I noticed that the nightstick Ryder had been holding was now his scythe. Cool. The Phoenix blew fire again, but instead of directing it at us, it made a circle of fire around us. We were trapped. We all put our backs together. The Phoenix was truly beautiful, but I wasn't too fond about the fact it was trying to kill us. I looked around desperately, hoping to find something that would help us. I knew we would not be able to beat it with just our weapons. I found my chance in the form of a giant water tower. Of course, water should be this monster's weakness. I leaned into Panda.

"I got a plan," I said, as I pointed at the tower. "I need your help." She nodded.

"Ryder, keep the Phoenix busy!" Panda said, as she grabbed my hand. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I tried to feel for the water in the tower. When I found it, I willed it to move, to ram its surrounding walls and break through the wood and bolts. Panda's hand tightened around mine and I felt a tug in my stomach.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of breaking wood and hundreds of gallons of water floating in the air.

"Watch out!" Ryder yelled, as a column of flames hit the base of our feet. We fell back and I momentarily lost concentration. The water started falling, but Panda raised her hands and stopped it. I stood up next to her, our clothes sizzling and I helped her raise the pool of water. The Phoenix glided over us. I looked at Panda.

"One," I said.

"Two," she breathed.

"Three!" We pulled the water towards us and slammed it into the Phoenix.

"Move!" Ryder yelled, as he tackled us. Right where we had been a moment before, was a giant wet Phoenix. The Phoenix tried to flap its wings and breathe fire, but all its flames had been extinguished. It was now helpless. Ryder walked up to it and with his scythe… ended the poor Phoenix. Panda slumped flat on the floor with a grunt.

"I am really getting tired of fire," she mumbled. I lay down next to her, catching my breath.

"Yeah, and flying monsters too," Ryder said. He flipped his scythe, which collapsed three times into itself, becoming a nightstick. He squeezed it, shrinking it more and stuck it into his pocket. He lay down on the other side of Panda.

We lay sprawled on the grass, staring up at the clouds.

* * *

I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! If it needs any improvement, let me know please! Thanks! :) Reviews are appreciated!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! Enjoy the weekend.

P.S.  
I won't be updating for a few days. I've been on the computer for so long, my head starts hurting every time I look at one. So, I'll be taking a break, but I promise that once I finish my break, I will be updating with a vengeance. Thanks! :)


	23. XXII Panda

**XXII**

**PANDA**

I stared up at the sky, thinking about all the rotten luck we had. I was going to find all the people who created monsters and shove them up where the sun don't shine. I stood up and saw the group of people who had been on the bus huddled under a small tree. The bus driver was on his phone, pretty much screaming into it. I didn't want to be the one on the other side of that line. I gestured for Percy and Ryder to follow me as we walked over to them. As soon as we had gotten there, the bus driver made an announcement.

"All right folks, I've got it under control! Another bus we'll be here shortly and we'll be underway again. Sorry for the delay!" he said, slamming his phone shut and shoving it into his pocket. At least, we still had some kind of transportation. We sat down, a good ways away from the rest of the group.

"Okay, when this is over, I'm going on vacation," Ryder said with a sigh. I laughed.

"Definitely," I agreed. We waited for the next half an hour under the burning sun. I had sweat dripping down my cheeks and I was about to shoot myself when another bus, smaller than the last arrived.

"Finally," Percy muttered as everyone stood up and poured onto the bus. With some quick announcements, the bus left. On the way, Percy closed his eyes. I guessed he was going to take a nap, and my suspicions were confirmed when he started snoring. Typical. I looked over to Ryder, who was flipping a small black box in his hands.

"Is that your scythe?" I asked. He looked up.

"Yep and travel size for your demigod convenience," he said sarcastically. He then bit his lip and shook his head. "Sorry."

"No need to be," I said, sending him a smile so he knew I meant it.

"It was a gift from my dad," he said, looking down at the small box. "Gave it to me when I was ten years old. I was living in Utah with my mom. They told me everything about being a demigod and about Camp Half Blood, but he couldn't help me. Mom was going to bring me to New York, but as soon as we had started…" he closed his eyes. "She died with the first monster that came our way."

I felt a sudden twinge of pain inside me. I knew it wasn't easy to lose people, in fact, every demigod understood. But I could never imagine losing my mom. Never in a million years. I put my hand on his shoulder. I knew there was nothing I could say that could make it better. He looked at me with a weak smile. We stayed quiet the rest of the way. On one turn, Percy slid and fell on me.

"I DIDN'T DO IT!" Percy yelled as he jumped up with wide eyes. I started cracking up and Ryder laughed too.

"We believe you," I said, patting his shoulder. He looked down sheepishly. In three hours, we were in Seattle. We were almost there. Finally. We jumped off the bus.

"So, where to now?" Percy asked. I pulled out a small piece of paper from my jeans I had stuck in there a couple of days ago with the directions to Marmes Rockshelter. There was only one problem. We were still about three hours away from it and we had no money left. What was I going to do now? It would take us a day or more to walk there. God forbid I suggest the Gray Sisters again. Percy would eat me alive. I bit my lip. I knew one way, but I had been trying to avoid it this whole time.

"Let me grab a map," I said. I walked to a little stand at the bus stop and grabbed one of those foldable maps. I grabbed it more out of stalling, but I knew it wouldn't work.

"I'll go get us a ride," I said. I walked around the corner and scanned the road. Down the street, in an abandoned parking lot, I saw a car. Kind of beat up, but it works. It was a Cherokee Jeep. I jumped in, but I realized I had no keys. So, I did what any car stealing crook would do. I hot-wired it. When I was lost in Europe, I had no money, of course and I was left to figure things out on my own.

I had ended up in a pretty unorthodox car shop and a guy, who was probably nineteen or twenty, had given me a hand. He taught me how to hot wire cars if I ever needed to. He never asked me about my life and never bothered to question my appearance, or even the weapon I had been holding when I had hid inside the shop, but he did teach me some things I thought I'd never have to use. Well, I owe him a big thanks now. After some tinkering, the car finally roared to life.

"YES!" I cheered excitedly, as I closed the door and took off. I stopped at the curb and honked the horn. Percy and Ryder didn't even budge. I rolled the window down and yelled at them. Percy was the first to look up and his eyes widened. They ran over to me.

"Where did you get this?" Percy asked, as he stared at the car.

"I borrowed it," I said quickly.

"You mean you stole it," he said.

"It's not stealing if you bring it back," I said defensively. I was going to bring it back. Hopefully in one piece too. Percy scoffed.

"Just get in," I said, rolling my eyes. Percy walked around the car and jumped into the passenger's seat, while Ryder crawled into the back. I peeled off.

With a lot of bickering about who was right and which way to go, we finally found I-90 W. The road that would lead us most of the way to Marmes Rockshelter. We followed it until it was WA-26.

It was all dirt and mountains as far as the eye could see. Barely any grass and almost nothing of civilization. It was just a bunch of barren land. We took a break from our three hour trip in a small town (only one we'd seen for miles), before zipping off again.

"The scenery is just beautiful," Percy said sarcastically. Ryder snorted. I rolled my eyes. We played the radio for a while, until the stations were too far and we heard nothing but static. The whole time there, I was thinking about everything. The prophecy, the blue bottle, Lamia, the lost memories and Zeus. Zeus… out of all the gods, why did I manage to piss off the strongest one?

I knew that whatever had him so on edge, was inside that blue bottle. I could feel it in my bones. I knew that was the key and although I wanted to go to Camp Half Blood and figure out why, I felt like I still had to come to this deserted place. Why? I have no freaking idea.

I was jogged back to reality when Percy took the wheel and turned it to the left, jerking the car onto another stretch of road. I grabbed the wheel.

"What the hell are you doing?!" I yelled as I tried to get the car in place again.

"We had to turn and you were ignoring us," Percy said, raising his eyebrow at me. Ryder put his hand on my shoulder from the back seat.

"Panda, are you okay?" he asked, leaning forward. I tried to steel my resolve, and keep them from seeing my thoughts, but I forgot something.

"No, she's not," Percy said, throwing his chin towards my necklace. Crap. I loved Planaxis, I really did, but I hated the fact it portrayed my mood.

"Just leave me alone Percy," I said dryly, as I grabbed my necklace and tucked inside my t-shirt, away from view. Percy frowned, but instead of pushing me further, he let it go and shifted in his seat. About twenty minutes later, we passed by some lonely houses. Who knew there were houses this far out? We probably would've gotten to Marmes Rockshelter two hours later, but I had the car moving at 90 miles an hour. At a turn, our asphalt road turned to dirt. A sudden sensation of fear fell through me. I didn't know what I was going to find when I got there. What if it was actually nothing? What if I had dragged Percy and Ryder, putting their lives at risk for _nothing?_ But I pushed aside my doubt and kept driving. Ten minutes later, our road ended. In front of us, was a beautiful blue river flowing between two small cliffs. In the middle of all the dirt, there was a tiny white building, but it seemed empty and abandoned. Behind that small building was a mountain that stuck out like a sore thumb. I parked the car and we stepped out.

We were finally here.

* * *

I'm back! :P I hope you guys like this chapter. If you didn't, let me know why! Reviews are always appreciated ;D


	24. XXIII Panda

**XXIII**

**PANDA**

"We're here," I breathed, as I gazed across the barren wasteland.

"So, what do we do now?" Ryder asked, as he came up behind me. There wasn't really a solid place we could start at. We'd just have to wander around and pray we came across something we could use.

"Walk," I said, as I closed the car door and started walking towards the river. The river was a dazzling blue, like it had come out of a painting. It winded its way through the cliffs like it owned everything. I realized, this was the same river I'd seen in my dream. This was definitely the place. We spent about an hour walking around and studying every crevice and hole there was.

"This seems hopeless," Percy said, as he brushed dirt off his hands. I was starting to feel the same way, but I tried to keep it out of my mind, because I wasn't going to leave this place without finding _something._ I hadn't come all this way to leave with nothing.

"Just five more—" I was cut off when I heard a soft _clang_ when I moved my foot. I looked down and saw a small celestial bronze dagger. I slowly picked it up and stared at it. It wasn't big and it wasn't sharp. It had some inscriptions along the blade and Greek designs across the hilt. A prickly feeling ran up my back. With dread, I turned the hilt towards me to glance at the bottom. There, at the bottom, in a white, was the capital letter P. The one I'd etched into it about three or four years ago.

I dropped the dagger and stumbled backwards as memories flooded my mind. I remembered everything from the last week before I disappeared. I knew why Zeus was after me. I knew what was inside that blue bottle. I remembered why Lamia knew me. I finally understood why I had been sent away and why Zeus wanted me as far away from here as possible. A sense of happiness and horror fell through me. I knew one of the oldest secrets. So old, it's not even written in the oldest history books. A secret lost in time, or more like destroyed. Percy jumped forward and grabbed me as I stumbled back.

"Panda, you okay?" he asked. I nodded quickly, though I was still a little shaken from the memories. Ryder ran around a mound of dirt towards us.

"What happened?" he asked as he came up to us. I looked up at them.

"I just found our answers," I said, as I picked up my dagger again. I couldn't help but smile at it. I wasn't standing in the dark anymore. I wasn't walking around clueless anymore. I had all the knowledge I needed. Percy and Ryder looked at me confused.

"Come on," I said, as I started for the car. We had to get to Camp Half-Blood quickly. I would explain everything on the way.

"Panda, what is it?" Percy asked, as he fell in next to me.

"I'll explain it on the way," I said impatiently. Percy jumped in front of me. I stopped.

"You got your memories back…" he said. He looked at me more intently. "Didn't you?"

"Yes. I did," I said, as I pushed around him.

"Where are you going now?" Ryder asked. I turned around to face them.

"We need to get to Camp Half-Blood as soon as possible. I'll explain it on the way," I said, as I turned back towards the car. Percy was about to say something, but before he could a huge shadow fell over us. I didn't even want to look up, because I knew it wasn't good news. But I did anyways and my jaw dropped. Soaring a hundred feet in the air was the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen. It was an eagle, with long golden wings and sharp gold talons that glinted in the sunlight. It had a small golden helmet on, which I found kind of odd. It screeched, but it didn't sound like a dying creature like so many others. It was almost like music.

"Get down!" I yelled, as the eagle swooped down. It outstretched its talons, but I ducked in time and the eagle turned upwards again. It screamed in frustration. Without waiting, it swooped again, even lower and I fell to the floor, shielding my head.

"I don't think it wants to kill us," Percy yelled. He held Riptide in his hands, ready to go. I glanced at Ryder and he had his scythe fully grown. So, I pulled out Planaxis.

"Then what does it want?" Ryder asked, as he glanced up at the eagle. It swooped down again, talons outstretched. We all ducked.

"Come on," I said, as I pointed at the car. We ran towards it. I threw my door open, but right when I was going to step in, I felt something sharp against my shoulder. I screamed as the grip tightened and pulled me off my feet.

"PANDA!" both Percy and Ryder yelled. I flailed and kicked as the eagle pulled me higher and higher up. As it pulled up, Planaxis fell out of my hand and twirled and fell into the river

"No!" I yelled as I watched Planaxis sink into the blue river. Unlike Riptide, Planaxis didn't come back to me. I shook my head in frustration and looked up at the giant eagle who was most likely taking me to my imminent death. This was it. This was like my dream, but instead of wind, it was a giant golden eagle.

"Let me go!" I yelled, as I tried stabbing its leg with my broken dagger, but it did no damage. I was about two hundred feet in the air, when something slammed against the eagle. The eagle screeched and dropped me. I screamed at the very top of my lungs, as I fell through the air. I thought this was it. I saw the eagle and it had blood dripping down its wing as it quickly flew away screaming in pain.

"Ryder!" I screamed, as I saw the ground growing closer. I felt someone grab me and I stopped falling.

"I'm right here," he said, as he caught me. I was panting and to be honest, I had been scared shitless. I gripped on to him, like my life depended on it.

"It's okay," he said, as he wrapped his arms around me. We landed on the ground and he softly set me down.

"Panda!" a voice, that wasn't Percy's, called. Wait. I know that voice… I turned, but before I could confirm my suspicions, arms wrapped around me and trapped me in a bone breaking hug. I gasped, as the stranger hugged me. He pulled away and my eyes widened.

Standing before me, was Nico Di Angelo.

* * *

So guys, let me know how this chapter came out. Be honest :P Thanks!


	25. XXIV Percy

**XXIV**

**PERCY**

I couldn't imagine not having Ryder here now. As soon as that eagle had taken Panda, he'd sprouted his wings and flown after her. I watched in horror as he slashed at the eagle, making it drop Panda. But I laughed in relief when he caught her. I watched them, as Ryder made his way back, holding Panda reassuringly in his arms. But suddenly something hit me, knocking me flat on my face. My first thought was that it was a monster. I jumped up and pointed my sword in the direction of whatever hit me.

"Whoa! Hold up!" a boy yelped as he put his hands up in surrender. I relaxed when I realized it was just Nico.

"Jeez Nico, next time I'm gonna chop your head off. Don't freaking scare me like that again!" I said, as I capped Riptide.

"Sorry man, but I can't control where I land when I shadow travel," he said, brushing off dirt from his black jeans. He was about to say something when his eyes travelled towards Ryder and Panda. His eyes widened. He ran towards Panda and wrapped her up in a hug. Panda was surprised.

"Oh my gods," Nico said, as he cupped her face in his hands.

"I've been looking everywhere for you!" he said, giving her another hug. Panda looked confused.

"Wait," she said, pulling Nico away from her. "You remember me? And you've been _looking_ for me?"

Nico's smile faded.

"Of course," he said, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"But how? Zeus erased everyone's memories," she said, her eyebrows furrowed. Nico took a step back.

"What are you talking about?" he asked surprised. Panda opened her mouth, but then closed it.

"Maybe we should talk," I said, putting my hand on Nico's shoulder. We sat inside the shadow of the car, to escape the heat. And Panda began talking.

"Okay. Before I disappeared, I was going to go on a… well," she glanced at Ryder "I was supposed to go on a date, but, as luck would have it, I got attacked by a monster. I had lost Planaxis and I hid inside the basement of some building, but the building collapsed."

My eyes widened. She had never told me anything about a building collapsing. She almost died and I knew nothing about it. I felt something tighten around me, like I couldn't breathe. I couldn't imagine life without her.

"In the wreckage, I found a map, the blue bottle, that led to something… very dangerous. I wasn't going to do anything about it, but I got curious," she said with a frown.

"Why didn't you tell me anything?" I interrupted.

"If it went south, I didn't want you to be involved. So, I set you up on a date with Annabeth," she said. "Point is, I found something and I need to get to it before someone else does," she said sternly. "If it lands in the wrong hands…" she shuddered.

"What is it?" Ryder asked. She looked at us wearily, like she wasn't sure if she should tell or not. She bit her lip.

"A dagger," she said. "A very, very dangerous dagger." We all looked confused. Yeah, we knew daggers were dangerous, but what made this one so special?

"What's up with this dagger?" Nico asked, clearly still confused. Panda paused.

"Many, many, _many_ years ago, there was a breed called a Hind. It was a female woman, with small horns and the body of a horse with gold fur. They were peaceful creatures, but their blood… it was dangerous to the gods. Zeus didn't want to risk having them around, so he slaughtered them. Erased everything there was about them, which is the reason no one knows anything about them," she said. "But before he finished the deed, a greedy old man took a dagger and enchanted it with a spell, to keep it from being destroyed."

"But it was just a plain dagger, how is that dangerous?" Ryder asked.

"The old man caught a Hind and spilled its blood all over the dagger," she said. Everyone stayed silent. "Zeus tried to destroy the dagger, but he couldn't break its enchantment. So he hid it."

"And you found it," I said. Panda nodded.

"Well, almost. I know where it is. Before Zeus killed the old man, the man drew a map of its whereabouts," Panda said. "When Zeus found out I knew where the dagger was, he got rid of me. Erased everyone's memories about me, so they wouldn't come looking for me."

"Then why does he remember you?" Ryder asked, pointing at Nico. I had the same question. Panda shrugged and pursed her lips. She looked deep in thought until her eyes opened.

"Nico, where were you when I disappeared?" she asked, creasing her eyebrows together. Nico thought.

"I think I was in the Underworld with dad… Yeah! Sisyphus was causing troubles again, so dad and I were hunting him down," he said. Ryder looked at him.

"Your dad is Hades?" he asked. Panda waved her hand to shush him up, but Nico nodded anyways.

"Zeus probably didn't want to get near you while you were with Hades," she said.

"That would make sense," I said. "If he's trying to keep it all a secret, he wouldn't want to look suspicious to any god."

"Zeus must really be desperate to stop you if he sent his Golden Eagle," Nico said. My eyes widened. Zeus had sent his own pet to do his deeds.

"He probably heard about the prophecy and got scared," I said as I remembered the prophecy Rachel had given us. Panda nodded.

"What prophecy?" Nico asked.

"At the end of summer days

A death shall rock history

For better or for worse

At the hand of a twin

A god shall fall to his knees," I repeated. Nico bit his lip.

"That doesn't sound good," Ryder said.

"It isn't," Panda said, staring at the ground. Then she looked up at the sky that was beginning to darken.

My head started to hurt with all the new information I'd just learned. I didn't like the sound of any of it. I massaged the bridge of my nose.

"We have to get back to New York as soon as possible," Panda said, her gaze landing on Nico. She leaned forward. "Nico, how good are you at shadow travelling?"

"Pretty damn good," he said proudly.

"Think you could shadow travel all of us?" she asked.

"It'd be a little hard. I could probably do trips—"

"I got a better idea," she said, a small smile appearing on her lips.

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I know not much happened in this chap, but it's really more about the story itself. Please review guys! I'm feeling a lack of love :( Anyways, hope you enjoyed!


	26. XXV Percy

**XXV**

**PERCY**

"Okay, no offense guys, but are you sure this is a good idea?" I asked, as I gripped the handle and the seat belt. Ryder sat next to me in the back seat and he looked just as nervous as I did.

"Um… yeah," Nico said. He was sitting in the passenger's seat, while Panda sat in the driver's seat. Panda had both hands holding on tightly to the steering wheel, while Nico had his hands on the dashboard.

"That doesn't sound reassuring," I said, pretty much jumping in my seat. Panda revved the car.

"Ready?" she asked. The car was pointing at the small building. The sun would be gone in the next few minutes, leaving us in total darkness.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Nico replied, closing his eyes. He took a deep breath. "Go," he said. Panda threw the car into drive and slammed on the gas. The car was driving at 80 miles an hour towards a solid cement building. Perfectly normal.

"HOLY SHIT!" everyone (except for Nico) screamed. I closed my eyes shut. I expected to hit the building and be crushed, but instead the temperature dropped about twenty degrees and the car sped up. We were in darkness. Seconds later, the car jumped out of a tree and landed on the dirt. Panda cursed as the car spun out of control. She honked the horn and several demigods jumped out of the way. She slammed on the breaks. The car did a one eighty and stopped, almost tipping sideways. The car was silent, until Panda started laughing. Everyone looked at each other confused, but her laugh was contagious, so we all started laughing too, until… there was a knock on the window. Panda gulped and rolled it down.

"Hi… Chiron…" she said softly.

"Do I want to know why there's a car in the middle of the strawberry fields?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"Um… probably not," Panda answered.

"I see," Chiron said. He leaned in. "If I were you, I'd get this car out before Dionysus sees his squashed strawberries," he whispered. Panda nodded. She was about throw the car into drive. "And meet me in the Big House," he added. Panda drove softly, but we could hear the _squish, squish, squish _of the strawberries. She parked the car on the rode in front of the Big House and we stepped out. As we walked up the hill I knew I would be facing something ten times worse than Dionysus. Annabeth.

As we walked over the hill, standing on the porch, with her arms crossed and her foot tapping was Annabeth. Crap. As we neared, she looked up and her stormy grey eyes narrowed down at me. Panda put her hand on my shoulder.

"Good luck," she whispered as she bounded up the stairs, followed by Ryder and Nico. I walked up the steps and stood in front of Annabeth. I shuffled my feet awkwardly, as she just stared at me.

"I'm so—" I began but she raised her hand.

"Don't even go there," she said. She took a step towards me, until her face was only inches away from mine. I stared into her eyes. Gods, she looked beautiful.

"You had me worried sick, Seaweed Brain," she breathed. I thought she was going to smack me, but instead, she kissed me. Her fingers grabbed my hair and she pulled me in tight, like she hadn't seen me in years. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her into me. Nothing had ever felt better than having her lips against mine. She pulled away and looked into my eyes.

"Don't you _ever_ do that again," she said. "Or I'll have to kill you."

I smiled. "Never again," I said. She smiled back. She then grabbed my hand and pulled me inside the Big House. Chiron was now in wheel-chair form. Panda sat between Ryder and Nico. Annabeth and I sat down across from Panda.

"Can someone please explain to me what is going on?" Chiron asked, looking at all of us.

"Percy had a dream about a place we had been to before," Panda said. "I… I went to look for clues."

"Clues for what?" Chiron asked. I had forgotten we had told him she was a new camper.

"Why no one remembered me, sir," she said firmly. Chiron had a look of pain, but it quickly disappeared.

"I should send you all to punishment," Chiron said, ignoring the mention of amnesia. It made me wonder if Chiron really didn't want to know or if he already did.

"No, it's my fault. I asked them to come with me," Panda said.

"The hell you did," I said.

"Yeah, we made our own choices," Ryder added. Chiron raised his hand.

"I don't care who did what. But… I'm just glad you're all back safely," he said. "We're all done with our shenanigans now, correct?" he asked, landing his thousand-year-old gaze on Panda. She nodded, but I knew her too well. This wasn't over.

"Now, I must go and make sure Dionysus doesn't throw a tantrum," Chiron said, as he wheeled out of the house. As soon as he was gone, Panda stood up.

"I'm going to my cabin now," she announced as she started for the door.

"I'll go with you," Ryder said, as he followed behind. Nico sighed and stood up.

"I guess I'll leave to," he said, as he shrugged and left. Annabeth turned to me.

"Can you tell me what's going on?" she said. I bit my lip. I trusted Annabeth a lot. I really did. But I had a feeling I shouldn't tell her.

"She was just trying to figure out why she disappeared," I said. "That's it." Annabeth looked at me skeptically, but then nodded.

"Come on," she said, as she grabbed my hand and dragged me towards the beach. She lay down and patted the empty space beside her. I laid down and put my arm around her. She snuggled into my chest and I rested my chin on the top of her head. As I stared up at the stars, thinking about what Panda had told us. The secret she had revealed; something that had been lost. Something that was dangerous, a shiver went down my spine. I closed my eyes, and tried to ignore everything and pay attention only to the waves of the ocean. Before I knew it, I fell asleep.

* * *

Thanks to **Percy Waterblue** for continously reviewing my story! Thanks. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Don't forget to review :P


	27. XXVI Panda

**XXVI**

**PANDA**

Ryder walked me to my cabin. The night was cool and there was a slight breeze, but it felt like it had an angry tinge to it. I walked down the rows of cabins, in silence. When I finally reached Cabin Number Three, I turned to Ryder. He looked stunning in the moonlight and the soft glow of the torch lights. His softly spiked her swayed with the wind and light casted shadows across his face.

"Thanks for walking me," I said. I turned and opened the door, but before I walked in he grabbed my arm. I turned to look at him and his big brown eyes bore into me.

"How are you?" he asked.

"I'm fine," I said.

"You say that a lot and no one can be fine after all this," he said. It felt like his eyes were staring into my soul and considering his parent, I wouldn't doubt he could. I bobbed my head sideways and shrugged.

"I deal," I said. "Night." I was about to walk inside when he pulled my arm and wrapped me up into a hug. At first, I was shocked at the sudden tug, but as soon as I felt him under my fingertips, I just melted into him. He smelt like chocolates. My body got a warm feeling as I felt his arms around me and I could've stayed that way forever. He made me feel things I'd denied the whole time and I couldn't deny them now. I felt his heartbeat racing with mine. He pulled away and looked at me, his hands landing on my waist. His face, his lips, were only inches from mine. But, when I thought (and kind of hoped) he would kiss me, he whispered goodnight and left, leaving me in the darkness. I sighed and walked into my cabin.

I lay down on the bed that was next to Percy's and snuggled under the covers. I stared out the window towards the beach. I could barely see two figures lying on the sand and I had a pretty good idea who they were. At least Annabeth didn't kill him. I still had my brother. I turned around and stared at the ceiling.

Now that I remembered everything, a new weight set on my shoulders. Tomorrow, I had to leave for DC and find that dagger. Why? When I had found the map and I was looking for clues, I came across Lamia. She was the only person (or monster) that I had met that knew anything about it. She told me to find it for her, bring it to her for keepsake. I never planned on doing so. I knew her history with Zeus. Her kids killed by his jealous wife, Hera. She wanted revenge.

When I realized she had stolen the map I had stashed in my bag, I had to do something to keep her away from it. So I lied. I said I would find it and she threatened to go after it herself if I never brought it to her. Well, I'd pretty much given myself away when I entered her shop once more. She would reform at some point. She would find the dagger and she knew very well where it was. I had to find it first.

After much tossing and turning, I finally fell asleep and had the worst nightmare ever.

I was standing on Mount Olympus. The bodies of every god and goddess, minor or not, were scattered everywhere. Buildings were on fire, nymphs and satyrs were screaming in utter terror as they narrowly escaped falling debris. I heard a laugh and when I turned, I saw Lamia standing on Zeus's throne, with the dagger in her hand. Her snake eyes looked down at me and she smiled.

"All thanks to you," she said gratefully, extending her hand and showing off all the chaos she'd brought about.

"No," I whispered, taking a step a back. She laughed again. She threw the dagger right at my chest. I gasped and gripped the dagger. I collapsed and woke up screaming in my cabin, clutching at my chest. No dagger, that's a good sign. I had sweat dripping down my face and I was breathing heavily. The only thing that calmed me down a little was the soft gurgling of the water fountain. I walked into our bathroom and cleaned off, changing into something a little more comfortable and grabbed a small bag packed with ambrosia. I ran towards the armory, passing by the Stoll brothers who chewed me out for almost running them over with the car.

I rummaged through the swords, cussing because I couldn't find the right one. But I smiled when I finally found one I could use. It was nothing special, just an ordinary celestial bronze sword with a leather handle. I snuck around the campers and counselors. I didn't need people telling me why I didn't need to go. I wasn't planning on taking Ryder or Percy or even Nico with me, but it seems I'm never out of their sight, because as I made my way to the car, I saw three figures around Thalia's tree. I silently cursed and reluctantly made my way towards them.

"You didn't think we'd let you go alone, did you?" Percy said as I neared. I rolled my eyes.

"So, where to now boss?" Ryder asked.

"DC," I said.

"Eh… why?" Nico asked. I started down the hill and he had to jog up to catch up to me.

"The dagger," I said.

"Why? I mean, no one knows where it is, right?" Nico asked hopefully. I looked at him sadly. I'd really screwed up badly.

"Lamia does," I breathed, not stopping to see the shocked looked on all their faces. Percy ran in front of me.

"You didn't tell me that," he said. I sighed. This was the reason I wanted to do this on my own. Too many questions I didn't want to answer.

"Lamia saw the map. She knows where it is. When she reforms, which she eventually will, she's going to go after it," I said, walking around him and towards the car that was still parked out front. I jumped in, putting my bad and sword between the seats. Percy sat in the passenger's seat, while Ryder and Nico sat in the back. A camper yelled at us from the top of the hill and ran towards us. He must've seen us leaving. He was young, and he had the typical blonde hair and blue eyes.

"You can't leave!" the boy, who was probably eleven, said. I didn't have time for this. I grabbed a piece of paper from the glove compartment and wrote down a note for Chiron. I gave it to kid.

"Give that Chiron. Now get lost," I said, before I turned the car on and stepped on the gas. The kid was left gaping in the direction we'd left, but he quickly ran back into the camp.

"What'd you write in that note?" Ryder asked, leaning forward. I shrugged.

"Went out for pizza," I said. I know, I know. Worst excuse in the history of excuses for a demigod to leave camp without permission, but what else was I going to say? On my way to find the most dangerous weapon known to man and god? Not quite.

"Well, it's gonna be a long ride," I said. "Let's put some music on." I turned on the radio. Now, the radio was something Percy and I fought a lot about. I liked Chris Daughtry, Three Days Grace and other bands along those lines, while Percy enjoyed more Elton John and Bon Jovi. It was a battle against the music. I'd turn the station to rock and just as quickly, he'd switch to another channel.

"Okay, it's my turn," I said, as I turned the channel.

"Is not! You already heard your song," Percy complained as he switched it back.

"Oh really? Friends Never Say Goodbye is Daughtry?" I shot back. He laughed.

"You wish he was that cool!" he retorted. Did he just insult Daughtry?

"You know what, I'm going to take this sword and shove it right up your—"

"Okay! How about we turn the radio off for a while?" Ryder interrupted. Percy grinned and I stuck my tongue out. Ryder leaned in.

"Dudes, come on, we've got a minor here," Ryder said, as he pointed towards Nico. I laughed. If you wanted to get on technical terms, Nico was 70 years older than all of us, but mentally (and I guess physically) he's about two years younger.

"I can hear you Ryder," Nico said, from his laid back position. Ryder chuckled. It seemed they got along better than I had thought possible. Mostly because Nico hated people in general. But they both had ties to the dead and the Underworld. They must've bonded over the fact they felt out casted. At least, that was my best guess. I tried putting music on again, but Ryder grabbed my hand to stop me.

"I don't need you guys fighting again," he said. Percy rolled his eyes.

"Oh come on, let'em. It's fun to watch," Nico said, wiggling his eyebrows. I stuck my tongue out at him, but I left the music off, which I didn't like. I needed something to drown out my thoughts with. Half way to DC, I pulled one hand off the steering wheel, propped it on the armrest and rested my head on my palm. A few minutes later, Percy grabbed my hand, which almost made my face meet the armrest.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said. I raised an eyebrow. The brother I know wouldn't just hold my hand for no reason. "I just… I'm kind of worried Panda," he said. He glanced to the backseat. Ryder had fallen asleep, again and Nico was drowning out his thoughts with music. Lucky.

"About what?" I asked, as I took a turn to the right. He seemed to ponder the question before answering.

"This is… something huge. And, I'm just worried Zeus is gonna strike first and ask questions later," he said.

"Percy—"

"I know you're trying to protect the gods from Lamia, but does he know that?" he asked, letting go of my hand and resting his back against the seat and looking at the ceiling. I rubbed his shoulder.

"It's gonna work out. I know it will," I said, trying to make myself sound reassuring. But it was kind of hard, when I wasn't sure if I believed it myself. I mean, if Zeus wasn't out for my blood, moving the dagger to another hiding place would be as easy as tying my shoes. But sometimes, I get my fingers stuck in the loops. I bit lip as I thought about everything that could go wrong. _Stop it Panda, you're freaking yourself out! _I shook my head to let go of the thoughts.

An hour later, we had arrived in DC. I had learned the map by heart. I knew where I had to go. I eventually found a place to leave the car and woke up Ryder.

I stepped out into the burning sunlight and hitched my sword to my belt. I slung my bag over my shoulder and began walking towards the Washington Monument.

* * *

Okay guys, like always, please tell me what you guys think about the chapter and... I will inform you now, this is the second last chapter. Meaning, the next chapter is the last chapter (if all goes well, which it should :P). I hope you guys enjoyed this chap! :)


	28. XXVII Panda

**So guys, this is where the story officially ends. This is a the last chapter, one I hope you guys will enjoy. I worked extra hard on it, to make it the best and I hope I accomplished that. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and especially to_ Percy Waterblue_ who reviewed my story every step of the way and helped me form Ryder who I, myself, am a fan of now! I never would have thought of that idea, so thanks! Now please, enjoy.**

* * *

**XXVII**

**PANDA **

"So, how are we going to find this dagger?" Percy asked, as we walked past tourists and onto the green grass that surrounded the monument.

"Just leave that to me," I said, as we reached the monument. It was really something, looking up at this tall hunk of rock. I threw my bag on the floor and slowly walked around the monument. They all stared at me.

"What are you doing?" Ryder asked.

"Yeah, people are looking at us weird," Percy added. I didn't answer. I slid my hand along the bumpy monument, feeling for something. I wasn't sure what, but I had a feeling I'd know when I'd find it.

"What—" Nico stopped. I glanced up at him. He was staring past me with wide eyes. He quickly pulled out his sword and I knew it was bad news. Percy and Ryder looked up and they pulled out their weapons. The ground underneath me softly trembled. I slowly turned around and just ten feet away from me, with smoke blowing out of its nose, was a dragon. Not those green dragons with a forked tongue or Mushu from Mulan. This dragon was solid black with black folded wings and had glowing red eyes that sparked with so much evil you wanted to look away. I took a step back and Percy grabbed me and pulled me behind him. It softly growled and just crouched like a tiger preparing to pounce on its prey. It slowly parted its mouth revealing giant white teeth. Its eyes slowly rolled over us, but its slit eyes landed on me. My breath quickened. I'd faced hundreds of monsters without batting an eyelash, but this one was different. I wasn't sure why, but this one… there was something else to it. Percy kept his arm out, like he was trying to keep me from running forward. Like I would.

"_I thought you'd come here_," the dragon hissed, but his mouth didn't move. Unlike so many other monsters that had voices that sounded like dying animals, a mixture of voices or were just sounds, this… this was totally and completely human. It was a man's voice, deep, soothing. Like Sean Connery without an accent. It was like a voice you'd hear from a vampire trying to calm you down before he sank his fangs into you.

"Wha-what?" I stuttered. It looked like the dragon tried to grin. Nico looked at me odd.

"_Come_," he said. I sucked in. I normally wouldn't obey monsters, but I didn't get the vibe that it wanted to kill me. I tried to move Percy's arm, but he didn't move.

"Don't," he said.

"I need to talk to him." Percy looked at me confused.

"You can't speak with dragons." Now I was the one confused.

"_They cannot hear me_," the dragon said. Oh. That made sense. I grabbed Percy's hand.

"Trust me. It's okay," I said. He reluctantly put his arm down, though he still had his weapon ready. I took a few steps towards the dragon.

"_Pandora Jackson_," the dragon said, as if he had heard much about me and he was finally getting the chance to meet me.

"You know me?" I asked, though it didn't come out very loud.

"_I've heard of you_," he said. He turned his head. "_You must leave now_. _Return to the place you came from._"

"I can't," I said, taking another step forward. Now I was only about five feet from his massive head. "Who are you?" I asked. He made a gurgling sound like he was chuckling.

"_I am Spyridon. I protect the dagger you seek_," he said.

"I need to take it," I said softly. The dragon took a step forward.

"_You should not. It makes the life of any wielder of the dagger a living hell. Cursed long, long ago._"

"I have to. Lamia wants to take it." The dragon turned his head and looked at me with one eye.

"_She knows where it is?_" Spyridon asked surprised and with a low growl, like she'd tried before, but had failed. I gulped. I didn't want to admit to my screw up in front of the dragon that was supposed to protect it. I sighed.

"Yes," I whispered. "It- it was my fault," I said, lowering my head.

"_Nonsense child. You are only human_," he said. I looked up in surprise. I thought he would just open his mouth and chew me up and instead he was comforting me. I looked closer at his eyes. The evil glint disappeared, but they were still intimidating.

"I need to take this dagger. I need to put it somewhere safe, so it won't fall into the wrong hands. Please, let me."

"_Child, I cannot_—"

"If I don't do this, the world will just fall into chaos!" Spyridon paused, pondering my words.

"Panda—" I heard Percy start, but I raised my hand to silence him.

"I have to do this," I said. "It's my mess. I have to clean it up." He took a deep breath, smoke blowing softly out of his nostrils.

"_I understand,_" he finally said. I nodded. I walked back to the monument and walked around with my hand sliding across the rocks, aware I had four sets of eyes planted on me. Then, I felt something I'd been searching for. I could feel the faint outline of a rectangle. I pushed and the rocks caved in with a hiss. Breathing heavily, I pulled my hands off the rocks and a thin slice of rock fell on my hands. I set it down and reached my arm inside the small rectangular cave until it was up to my shoulder. I outstretched my fingers and felt around the moist cave, hoping there was nothing waiting to bite my fingers.

Finally, I touched something smooth and cold. My breath quickened. I wrapped my fingers around it and pulled it out. I was kneeling down, in front of one of the most famous monuments in the world, with the Hines Blood Dagger in my hands; the dagger capable of taking anyone's life, including the immortal. The blade was long and golden. It had subtle inscriptions along its edges. One side was a blessing, the other was a curse. The sunlight glinted off the blade like light off a diamond. The hilt was short, but felt comfortable in my hand. The perfectly rounded bottom was gold as well, but it had the best leather wrapped around it, giving it a very ancient look. I could see my reflection in the blade and my fingers wrapped around the hilt like it was made for me.

"Panda?" Ryder called. I slowly stood up and showed them the dagger that could very well cause the demise of the gods.

"Whoa," Nico breathed, as he stared at the dagger.

"It's beautiful," Percy said.

"_And dangerous_," Spyridon said. He must've said it to everyone, because all three boys looked startled at the sudden voice.

"_Listen to me child,_" Spyridon said. I turned to him, placing the dagger on the inside of my boots, out of view. "_You must take the dagger somewhere safe. It cannot be destroyed. It can only be hidden. You must cross the seas and take it to the land of no god and find—_" Spyridon stopped. His eyes widened.

"_Get down!_" Spyridon hissed, but it was too late. In a flash of light, my feet were swept under me. A second later, I fell out of the air and rolled onto a hard tiled floor. I reached for my sword, but it was missing. Fear flooded my body, but most of it subsided when I heard the familiar grunts of the boys. I tried to stand up, but I stumbled around. I couldn't see well. The light was like a flash bang which left me totally disoriented. I was breathing heavily as I stumbled and tripped over the floor trying to find Percy or Ryder or Nico.

"Percy? Ryder! Nico!" I called out.

"Here!" Ryder called.

"I'm alive," Percy added.

"Almost alive," Nico grunted. I followed their voices, still stumbling about. When my vision cleared, I realized where we were and my knees suddenly felt like jelly. We were on Mount Olympus.

Olympus was empty. I couldn't see or hear anyone. Even the usual crackle of the fire was missing.

"Where are we?" Ryder asked.

"Olympus," Percy growled.

"Why—" Ryder began, but he stopped short. I spun around and saw a middle-aged man in a pinstripe suit. Zeus.

He held his lightning bolt, full size, in his hand. He had a horrifying look in his eyes. I backed up into the boys, until we were standing in a line.

"What do you want?" I spat. I usually held some respect for the gods, but after I dealt with Zeus trying to kill me nonstop, I wasn't particularly excited to see him. He gave us an evil smile.

"Welcome," he said.

"How dare you welcome me after you've been trying to kill me?" I growled. My hands balled into fists and it was taking all my energy not to explode and pummel him into a grape like I oh so wanted to.

"No, no, there's been a misunderstanding," he said, taking a step forward. Percy grabbed my hand and his touch reassured me, calmed me.

"It's one hell of a misunderstanding," Percy said. Nico had his hand tight around the hilt of his sword, while Percy had his out and Ryder held his nightstick at his side. At least I knew they still had my back.

"You paint me as such an irrational person," Zeus said.

"Maybe because you are most times," Nico said. Zeus glared at us, clearly not happy with the smart remarks.

"Okay, enough talk. Hand over the dagger Pandora," he said, outstretching his hand like he was asking for candy. Part of me wanted to give it to him, but that part was really, really small. I wouldn't trust him with my life, let alone this dagger.

"No," I said firmly. Flames literally engulfed Zeus's eyes. I guess he wasn't used to the word _no_.

"I will ask you one more time," he warned.

"And my answer will be the same." Zeus's nostrils flared and his grip on his lightning bolt tightened.

"Then forgive me Pandora, for what I am about to do." He pointed the lightning bolt at me and I knew what was going to happen. I grabbed my watch, waiting for the right moment to open it. A lightning bolt flew out and straight towards me.

"NO!" a voice yelled. I felt something knock into me and I fell sideways, landing on my shoulder. I looked behind me and lying on the floor, was Ryder.

"No!" I screamed as I ran over to him and knelt next to him. He was breathing heavily and he had a drop of blood trickling down the side of his lips. From the corner of my eye, I saw Percy and Nico stand over us, but they said nothing.

"Ryder, Ryder," I whispered, cupping his cold face between my hands. "That was a stupid thing to do! Why did you do that?!" Ryder coughed weakly and looked at me.

"Because I love you," he whispered. I was shocked. I could barely process what was going on. His eyes fluttered closed.

"No, Ryder. You're not leaving me," I whimpered, as I softly tapped his cheek. "Ryder, don't leave me!" I screamed. His eyes slowly opened again, but he looked dazed and in a trance.

"There's- there's something I've been wanting to do since the first day I met you," he croaked, gasping. He raised his hand and grabbed my hair. He pulled me down and my lips crushed against his. It felt like someone had set off fireworks. He pulled me in closer and I could feel his heart beat beating with mine. His lips moved against mine and it felt like we had been made for each other. I'd never felt so alive and happy, despite everything else.

Then, his lips stopped moving and his hand fell, sliding across my cheek and thudding against the tiled floor. His chest stopped moving and I felt his heart beat stop. My life shattered around me in an instant. I stared at his paled face. His eyes were closed. I touched his cheek, tears falling down mine. Ryder was gone. I leaned into him, smelling the smell of chocolate clinging to his clothes.

"I love you," I whispered into his ear. I'd never said those three words to anyone before and I had waited too long to say them. I could barely breathe. I felt like the world had been swept from under me and I was spinning down into a big black hole. I clutched my chest as I felt something constricting around my heart so hard I thought it would just pop.

"Panda," Percy whispered. I heard the thuds of Zeus's shoes as he came up behind us. Anger boiled inside me. Everything that had happened in the past week, all the anger I had inside me since the day I disappeared surfaced. My hand balled into a fist, wrapping my fingers around Ryder's shirt. The tears stopped falling and my jaw clenched, so hard it started to hurt. I reached for the dagger in my boot.

"This never would have happened if you would have just—" I spun and stabbed him. His eyes opened wide, like this was the first time he'd experienced this kind of pain. His breathing became labored as he looked down. He gripped the hilt, his long white fingers covering mine. The wind around us started to whirl violently. My hair whipped around, as the wind surrounded us like a tornado.

"Why?" Zeus croaked, gasping.

"It was just a misunderstanding," I whispered as I pulled out the blade and Zeus fell to his knees. His face was contorted into horrible pain. He tried to speak, but he choked on his own blood. With one last breath, he collapsed to the floor. His blazing blue eyes were still open, staring into space. But the light in them slowly faded. The fierceness they once held, the leadership, was now nothing more than rotting tissue. The lightning bolt rolled away and its light faded until it was nothing but a lifeless gray cylinder. Olympus shook and there was a loud thundering sound like something was breaking. I looked back and Zeus's throne was broken in half. I looked down at my hands, covered in blood; covered in ichor. I stumbled back, dropping the blade.

I stared at my shaking, bloodied hands. I glanced up. Percy and Nico stared at me in horror. Then the weight of the world crashed down on me. _At the end of summer days._ _A __**death **__shall rock history_. _For better or for worse_. _At the hand of a __**twin**_.

_**A god shall fall to his knees**__._

Zeus is dead.

And I am to blame.

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Okay, I was just pulling your leg up there. This is **not** the end :P This is the end of the first half though. The second half will be a separate. It will be called **Percy & Panda: A World Of Chaos**. So keep an eye out for it! Thanks again! And I hope you enjoyed it :)


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